ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS 
OF  THE  WORLD 


A.BARTON  HEPBURN 


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ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS  OF 
THE  WORLD 


^!^^ 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW   YORK    •   BOSTON   •    CHICAGO    •   DALLAS 
ATLANTA    •    SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON   .   BOMBAY   •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMHXAN  CO.  OF  CANADA.  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


2  ^ 


ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS 
OF  THE  WORLD 


BY 
A.  BARTON  HEPBURN 

AUTHOR  OF  "  HISTORY  OF  COINAGE  AND  CURRENCY 


Nm  fork 
THE  MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

1914 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright  igog  and  igi4 

By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  January,  igog. 

New  Revised  and  Enlarged  Edition,  November,  igi4. 


FOREWORD 

The  first  improvement  upon  the  slow,  tedious 
and  costly  means  of  transportation  by  beasts  of 
burden  and  vehicles  was  accomplished  by  utihz- 
ing  rivers,  supplemented  by  canals,  as  a  thor- 
oughfare for  boats  and  barges. 

These  waterways  determined  the  routes  of 
commerce  until  the  locomotive  engine  made 
land  routes  the  more  popular,  as  they  were  the 
more  expeditious.  Reaching  in  all  directions, 
spanning  waterways,  tunneling  mountains,  and 
defying  obstacles  generally,  they  naturally  took 
command  of  trade.  In  almost  all  other  countries, 
the  commercial  advantage  of  maintaining  both 
land  and  water  routes  was  fully  appreciated;  in 
the  United  States,  the  impatience  of  all  delay, 
which  characterizes  our  people  in  the  rush  to 
anticipate  the  future  and  bring  the  latent  re- 
sources of  our  phenomenally  rich  country  into 
soonest  possible  use,  however  wasteful  such 
haste  may  be,  found  expression  in  the  develop- 
ment and  expansion  of  railway,  and  the  com- 

33S680 


VI  FOREWORD 

parative  neglect  of  canal  and  river  transporta- 
tion, especially  during  the  last  three  decades. 
Denser  population  with  increased  local  needs, 
the  greater  consumption  which  accompanies  the 
growing  wealth  of  the  people,  the  congestion  of 
traffic  generally,  and  many  other  causes,  are 
teaching  people  the  unwisdom  of  neglecting  the 
cheaper,  albeit  slower,  means  of  transportation. 

People  have  come  to  realize  that  the  function 
of  artificial  water  navigation  is  to  supplement  and 
complement,  and  not  to  rival  the  railways. 
The  great  development  and  successful  rivalry 
of  the  Canadian  canals  have  attracted  wide 
attention  and  done  much  to  bring  to  our  people 
a  proper  appreciation  of  the  great  service  which 
canals  and  canalized  rivers  may  render. 

The  failure  of  New  York  to  develop  and  main- 
tain her  canal  system  found  yearly  expression 
in  the  loss  of  commerce  to  the  city  of  New 
York;  this  manifest  fact  led  to  the  present  great 
work  of  enlarging  the  capacity  of  her  canals. 
Her  canal  system  is  typical,  and  influences  which 
call  for  improvement  and  enlargement  in  New 
York  will,  with  equal  force,  call  for  the  develop- 
ment   of    artificial    waterways    throughout    the 


FOREWORD  VU 

country.      Such    development    seems    to    be    an 
imperative  need  of  internal  trade. 

In  order  to  place  before  the  public  in  concise 
form  the  salient  facts  as  to  artificial  waterways 
and  their  relation  to  commercial  development, 
this  volume  was  prepared  and  is  now  submitted 
in  revised  form.  It  presents,  in  some  degree,  the 
history  of  canal  systems  of  all  countries  and  the 
present  status  of  such  systems,  as  set  forth  in 
the  latest  obtainable  official  reports.  It  aims  to 
present  to  the  reader,  in  lucid  and  concise  form, 
frequently  the  form  of  statistics,  the  present 
condition  of  the  canals  and  canalized  rivers  of  the 
world. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  Sereno  S.  Pratt,  the 
able  and  accomplished  Secretary  of  the  New 
York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  by  whom  the 
tables  made  use  of  were  largely  prepared.  All 
of  the  statistics  have  been  verified  by  him. 

A.  BARTON  HEPBURN 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword v 

The  World's  Canals ■    .    .  i 

The  Canal  System  of  New  Yore: 

The  Period  of  Inception 34 

The  Period  of  Development 54 

1867-1909 70 

The  Competition  against  New  York  City 88 

Barge  Canal  Improvements 97 

Relation  of  Canals  and  Railways 102 

The  Panama  Canal 109 

Other  Great  American  Canals 121 

The  Waterways  Question  and  Conservation  of  Our  Re- 
sources       130 

Department  of  Internal  Navigation 136 

Appendix 145 

Bibliography 164 

Index 167 


IX 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Gov.  Clinton  and  Party  on  "Seneca  Chief" 

Entering  Canal  at  Buffalo     ....  Frontispiece 

Kaiser  Wilhelm  or  Kiel  Canal Page  14 

"Marriage  of  the  Waters" Facing  page    52 

View  of  the  Nearly  Completed  Lift  Lock, 

Barge  Canal,  Little  Falls Facing  page    98 

Panama  Canal  Zone Facing  page  120 


ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS  OF 
THE  WORLD 


ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS  OF 
THE  WORLD 

THE  WORLD'S  CANALS 

The  importance  of  a  well-devised  and  judi- 
ciously located  canal  system,  as  a  factor  in  the 
material  development  and  substantial  progress 
of  a  country,  is  apt  to  be  under-estimated  by 
most  men,  in  these  days  of  multiplied  railway 
communication.  Prior  to  the  first  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  mankind  was  dependent 
upon  the  tedious  and  costly  transportation  by 
animal  power,  except  where  waterways  could  be 
made  available.  Adam  Smith,  writing  of  course 
before  the  era  of  railways,  and  having  observed 
the  enormous  difhculties  of  traffic  over  poor 
highways,  in  imperfect  vehicles,  characterized 
the  introduction  of  artificial  waterways  very 
conservatively  when  he  said,  in  his  ^'Wealth  of 
Nations,"  that  "navigable  canals  are  among  the 
greatest  of  all  improvements." 

We  find  the  canal  device  for  supplementing 


•i;':\lkKX^Y-l(^.lAL  -WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

Nature's  gifts  to  man  in  the  way  of  inland  seas 
and  rivers,  utilized  very  early  in  the  history  of 
the  race;  for  even  if  we  regard  as  perhaps  leg- 
endary the  assertion  of  Egyptologists  that  the 
predecessors  of  the  Pharaohs  had  created  a  canal 
system  as  far  back  as  7000  B.  C,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  the  Egyptians,  the  Chaldeans,  and 
probably  also  the  Chinese,  dug  artificial  water- 
ways many  centuries  before  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  era.  At  first  these  man-made 
waterways  were,  doubtless,  merely  for  irrigation 
purposes;  but  it  was  not  long  before  they  were 
utihzed  to  transport  surplus  products  from  place 
to  place,  connecting  natural  bodies  of  water; 
eventually  circumventing  the  obstacles  presented 
by  cataracts;  ultimately  shortening  ocean  routes 
for  the  largest  vessels,  like  the  Suez  and  Panama 
canals,  and  converting  inland  cities  into  artificial 
seaports,  as  in  the  case  of  Manchester,  England. 
Constructive  ingenuity  must  have  been  de- 
veloped quite  extensively  to  have  made  it  pos- 
sible for  Nebuchadnezzar  to  restore  the  great 
canal  of  Babylon,  mentioned  by  Herodotus  as 
one  of  that  ancient  city's  wonders;  originally  cut, 
as  the  antiquaries  state,  about  1700  B.  C,  that 


THE   world's   canals  3 

great  ruler  made  it  available  for  merchant  vessels 
in  his  day  (say  600  B.  C).  It  would  appear 
that  at  about  this  time  also  there  was  begun  the 
construction  of  the  predecessor  of  the  present 
Suez  Canal,  connecting  the  Nile  with  the  Red 
Sea,  finished  later  by  one  of  the  rulers  of  Egypt. 
This  waterway  is  said  to  have  been  in  use  until 
the  ascendency  of  the  Mohammedans  in  Egypt; 
the  caliph  Al-Mansour  ordered  its  destruction 
A.  D.  767  and  his  name  is  likely  to  live  in  his- 
tory on  account  of  this  discreditable  act,  rather 
than  any  good  which  he  accomplished. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  those  great  road 
and  aqueduct  builders,  the  Romans,  have  left 
us  no  important  commercial  w^aterways.  Marius 
indeed  connected  the  Rhone  with  the  Mediter- 
ranean in  Gaul,  and  Claudius  joined  the  Tiber 
and  the  sea;  in  Britain  two  dikes  are  credited 
to  the  Roman  period;  but  of  these  relatively  in- 
significant examples  nothing  remains  at  this 
day;  the  records  show  a  number  of  ambitious 
plans  for  canals  during  the  reign  of  the  Caesars, 
but  their  wars  rendered  the  practical  execution 
of  these  enterprises  impossible.  Charlemagne 
joined  the  upper  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  and 


4  ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

conceived  the  plan  of  connecting  the  Danube  and 
the  Main,  probably  less  for  trade  purposes  than 
as  a  means  to  solidify  his  empire.  The  last- 
named  scheme  was  finally  carried  into  execution 
in  the  nineteenth  century  by  Louis  I  of  Bavaria. 
Europe,  with  its  magnificent  rivers,  navigable, 
and  easily  rendered  so  by  a  canahzation,  rivers 
so  easily  joined  by  canals,  was,  nevertheless, 
very  dilatory  in  developing  artificial  waterways. 
The  reason  may  be  found,  perhaps,  in  the  fact 
that  Europe  was  divided  into  so  many  different 
states,  and  controlled  by  so  many  different 
governments. 

Canals  of  Europe 

The  beginnings  of  Europe's  great  canal  sys- 
tems may  be  placed  somewhere  in  the  twelfth 
century,  and  the  credit  for  practical  inaugura- 
tion belongs  to  the  Dutch,  although  there  are 
evidences  that  the  British,  as  early  as  1134,  and 
the  Italians  somewhat  later,  did  some  work 
upon  their  waterways.  The  '4ow  countries" 
were  by  nature  peculiarly  adapted  for  canaliza- 
tion,  and  to   this  day  they  have  the  greatest 


THE  world's   canals  5 

mileage  of  canals  compared  with  area.  The  ag- 
gregate mileage,  including  the  part  now  known 
as  Belgium,  is  given  as  over  3,400,  the  area  as 
24,000  square  miles.  This  region,  together  with 
northeastern  France,  had  by  the  year  1250  quite 
a  respectable  system  of  waterways. 

But  the  great  impulse  to  canal  construction 
came  after  the  invention  of  the  use  of  locks, 
which  enabled  engineers  to  overcome  the  ob- 
stacles presented  by  elevations.  This  improve- 
ment is  claimed  for  both  Dutch  and  Italians; 
for  the  latter,  at  about  1481,  for  the  former, 
nearly  a  hundred  years  earlier. 

A  lock  is  a  prism,  protected  by  sheer  walls  on 
either  side  and  water-tight  gates  at  either  end. 
By  opening  the  gates  at  the  lower  end,  a  vessel 
may  be  floated  into  this  prism;  then  by  closing 
the  gates  at  the  lower  end  of  the  lock  and  open- 
ing those  at  the  upper  end,  the  incoming  water 
would  raise  the  vessel  to  the  higher  level  and 
permit  it  to  continue  its  journey  until  the  lock- 
ing process,  up  or  down,  again  became  necessary. 
The  invention  of  the  lock  was  a  truly  wonderful 
contribution  to  water  navigation.  Probably  it 
was  not  the  work  of  any  one  mind,  but  was 


6         ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

borne  in  upon  the  minds  of  many,  by  the  neces- 
sity of  overcoming  grade  and  the  practical  study 
of  canal  transportation.  Prior  to  the  lock,  they 
overcame  grades  by  means  of  an  incline,  up  and 
down  which  vessels  were  hauled  by  means  of 
capstans,  the  process  being  facihtated  or  ren- 
dered easier  by  a  flush  of  water.  They  also 
removed  the  cargo  from  the  boats  and  ran  the 
boats  upon  trucks  and,  thus  mounted  upon 
wheels  they  were  propelled  up  and  down  the 
incline  by  means  of  a  windlass.  The  great  im- 
provement resulting  from  the  invention  of  the 
lock  was  of  little  immediate  use,  as  the  prev- 
alence of  wars  in  Europe  prevented  the  exten- 
sive development  of  waterways  for  more  than 
a  century. 

Holland 

Holland's  canal  development  has  probably 
been  the  most  remarkable;  while  most  of  the 
works  were  for  inland  transport,  the  magnificent 
ship  canal,  by  which  the  port  facilities  of  Amster- 
dam were,  in  1826  and  again  in  1876,  very  ma- 
terially enlarged,  stands  as  one  of  the  most  note- 
worthy engineering  feats. 


THE   world's   canals  7 

It  was  built  to  develop  the  facilities  of  Amster- 
dam, as  a  natural  seaport,  to  the  expanding 
dimensions  of  ocean-going  vessels;  begun  in  1865, 
and  opened  in  1876;  length  16.7  miles.  There 
are  three  locks,  and  a  new  one  is  planned  larger 
even  than  those  of  Panama.  The  total  cost, 
1865-1907,  was  $23,390,937;  depth,  32.1  feet, 
which  is  greater  than  the  average  depth  of  the 
North  Sea.  The  canal  is  large  enough  for  all 
but  ocean  vessels  of  the  very  largest  dimen- 
sions. The  tonnage  of  vessels  using  the  canal 
amounted  to  1,401,128  in  1877,  and  to  8,583,066 
in  191 1 ;  the  number  of  vessels  being  3,376  in 
1877  and  28,799  i^  191 1.  The  canal  is  main- 
tained by  the  state  and  no  tolls  are  charged. 

More  recently  the  connection  of  that  port  and 
Rotterdam  with  the  lower  Rhine  merits  special 
notice.  Always  guarding  her  commercial  in- 
terests, once  far  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  still,  relatively  to  area  and  popula- 
tion occupying  front  rank,  the  little  kingdom 
has  not  hesitated  to  make  great  sacrifices,  tem- 
porarily, to  attain  the  objects  in  view.  Her 
canals  are  kept  in  efiicient  condition,  and  produce 
a  steady  increase  in  her  commerce. 


8         ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

Besides  its  fine  rivers,  360  miles  in  length, 
Holland  has  2,408  miles  of  canals,  and  its  water- 
way system  is  therefore  large  for  a  country 
having  an  area  of  only  12,741  square  miles.  Its 
Amsterdam  Canal  described  above  is  one  of  the 
great  ship  canals  of  the  world,  and  the  whole 
country  is  a  network  of  waterways — natural 
and  artificial.  No  tolls  or  dues  are  charged  on 
rivers  or  canals  under  governmental  control. 
About  90  per  cent  of  the  freight  traffic  of  the 
country  is  water-borne. 

Belgium 

Both  railroads  and  waterways  in  Belgium  are 
mostly  owned  and  administered  by  the  State, 
and  it  was  reported  to  the  British  Royal  Com- 
mission on  Waterways  that  inland  navigation 
in  Belgium  had  been  brought  to  the  highest  state 
of  perfection,  so  as  to  be  of  value  to  every  sec- 
tion of  the  country.  There  are  about  100  water- 
ways, of  a  total  length  of  1,345  miles.  Upon  these 
waterways  Belgium  has  expended  in  improve- 
ments and  maintenance  over  $100,000,000  since 
183 1.     Their   traffic   increased   from    24,836,000 


THE   WORLD  S   CANALS  9 

tons  in  i8SS  to  53,345,000  tons  in  1905,  a  gain 
of  120  per  cent,  while  the  gain  in  railroad  traffic 
in  the  same  time  was  60  per  cent.  The  Scheldt 
and  Meuse  Junction  Canal  extends  from  Antwerp 
to  the  Holland  boundary,  where  it  joins  the 
Maestricht  Canal,  a  distance  of  95  miles.  Recent 
enlargement  to  a  depth  of  8  feet  3  inches  will 
make  it  navigable  for  1,000  ton  barges.  There 
are  17  locks. 

PRINCIPAL  BELGIAN  CANALS— 1905 


Canal  de  Jonction 53 

Bois  le  Due  Maestricht 27 

Brussels  to  the  Rupel 17 

Charleroi  to  Brussels 45 

Ostende-Bruges-Ghent 43 

Terrenzen  to  Ghent 11 


miles 

Traffic,  tons 

■5 

2,694,000 

.6 

2,011,000 

•3 

2,058,000 

•5 

1,042,000 

•5 

3,433,000 

.0 

1,166,000 

PRINCIPAL  BELGIAN  RIVERS— 1905 


Length,  miles 
. . .  .67.0 
....   7. 


Bas  Escant 

Rupel 

Haut  Escant 59 

Lys 70 

Dendre 40 

Sambre 58 

Meuse 70 


Traffic,  tons 
9,974,000 
3,172,000 
2,628,000 
3,337,000 
1,349,000 
2,121,000 
2,887,000 


lo    artificial  waterways  of  the  world 

France 

France  began  in  1605  the  comprehensive  sys- 
tem which  has  added  over  3,000  miles  of  canals 
to  her  natural  waterways.  The  greatest  of  her 
many  works  was  the  Languedoc,  connecting  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  148 
miles,  first  opened  in  1668.  This  connection 
was  greatly  improved  in  later  centuries,  the 
present  Canal  du  Midi,  255  miles,  being  charged 
with  a  total  cost  exceeding  $100,000,000.  But 
the  important  fact  is  that  this  canal  system, 
owned  by  the  government,  has  been  well  main- 
tained. 

France  has  10,530  miles  of  waterways,  of 
which  4,006  miles  are  in  navigable  rivers  and 
3,030  miles  in  canals  with  boats  whose  average 
capacity  is  300  tons.  Of  the  canals,  the  State 
owns  and  operates  2,860  miles.  The  government 
of  France,  from  1814  to  1900,  expended  in  con- 
struction, improvement  and  maintenance  of  canals 
$240,670,000,  and  on  rivers  $216,170,000,  a 
total  of  $456,840,000.  There  have  been  no  tolls 
on  government  waterways  since  1888,  during 
which  year  they  were  aboHshed. 


THE   WORLD'S  CANALS  II 

Recently  the  Harbor  and  Navigation  Commis- 
sion of  France  recommended  a  total  expenditure 
of  $212,300,000  for  harbor  improvements  and 
internal  navigation.  The  new  canal  construc- 
tion works  in  course  of  completion  (19 13)  are 
the  following: 

Share  contributed  hy 
State,  to  January  i,  igi2 

From  Montbeliars  to  Haute  Saone $    2,474,684 

Canal  du  Nord 11,266,182 

From  Marseilles  to  the  Rhone 6,330,400 

Total $20,071,266 

The  Canal  d' Orleans  is  also  being  lengthened. 

In  191 2  there  were  on  the  inland  waterways 
of  France  15,141  boats  capable  of  carrying 
4,035,199  metric  tons.  As  regards  capacity,  78 
per  cent  can  carry  over  300  tons.  The  canal- 
boats  in  common  use  are  economical  to  build 
and  operate,  and  about  two-fifths  of  them  are 
owned  by  the  individuals  who  operate  them. 
In  191 2  there  were  12,988  boats  having  cabins, 
with  a  population  of  44,724  men,  women  and 
children  living  in  them. 

The  following  is  a  comparison  between  water- 
way and  railroad  traffic  in  France  from  1886  to 
1911: 


12       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

TRAFFIC  ON  THE  RAILROADS  AND  ON  THE  RIVERS  OF 
FRANCE 

r,        .,       ,     ,  By  fiavigable  rivers 

By  railroads,  tons  ,      ^    , 

and  canals,  tons 

1886 75,273,000  21,050,000 

1896 105,900,000  29,534,000 

1906 147,277,000  34,144,000 

1907 i59»ii5,ooo  34,702,000 

1908 160,855,000  34,225,000 

1909 167,734,000  35,627,000 

1910 176,153,000  34,621,000 

1911 187,362,000  38,117,000 

Note:  (a).  In  1912  the  waterway  traffic  was  about  40,000,000  tons, 
(b).  Railroad  tonnage  increased  153.3  per  cent  from  1886  to 
1911. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  MERCHANDISE  TRANSPORTED  ON 
WATERWAYS  IN  FRANCE— TONS 

igii  iQio  i8go 

Mineral  fuels 12,434,000  11,369,000  6,945,000 

Construction  materials 15,968,000  11,948,000  7,688,000 

Fertilizers 1,474,000  1,368,000  1,345,000 

Fire  wood 1,716,000  1,535,000  1,601,000 

Metals  and  machinery 722,000  755,000  25,000 

Raw  materials  (metal) 1,607,000  1,710,000  1,713,000 

Industrial  products 1,317,000  1,222,000  678,000 

Agricultural  and  food  products  4,393,000  4,258,000  3,5i5',ooo 

Miscellaneous 362,000  349,000  346,000 

Woods  of  all  kinds 124,000  107,000  312,000 

Total 38,117,000     34,621,000     24,167,000 


The  latest  statistics  of  waterway  traffic  are 
furnished  by  the  French  Ministry  of  Pubhc 
Works  for  19 13  and  191 2,  as  follows: 


THE   WORLD  S   CANALS  1 3 

1  Kilometric  tons 

Total  Canal  Tonnage 3,235,918,464        3,164,916,147 

Total  River  Tonnage 2,949,071,602         2,685,582,884 

Total  Waterway  Tonnage 6,184,990,066         5,850,499,031 

1  Ton  transported  i  kilometre  (.621  of  a  mile). 


Germany 

Germany  had  canals  connecting  some  of  her 
great  rivers  prior  to  1700,  but  the  development 
of  the  present  system  was  postponed  to  modern 
times.  Once  undertaken,  however,  it  progressed 
rapidly,  energetically,  and  with  great  practical 
results.  Nearly  all  of  her  noble  streams  are 
connected  at  commercially  strategic  points,  and 
no  expense  has  been  spared  to  accomphsh  the 
purpose  in  view. 

Kiel  Canal 

The  Kaiser  Wilhelm,  or  Kiel  Canal,  provides 
a  waterway  in  Germany  between  Baltic  and 
North  Sea  ports,  thus  avoiding  the  dangerous 
natural  route  around  Denmark.  It  was  begun 
in  1887  and  comipleted  in  1895,  at  a  cost  of 
$37,128,000.  Since  then  it  has  been  recon- 
structed; this  work  beginning  in  1907,  was  com- 


14      ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 


Kaiser  Wilhelm  or  Kiel  Canal,  connecting  the  North  Sea  with  the 
Baltic  Sea,  and  which  in  1914  performed  the  double  function  of  a 
highway  for  commerce  and  a  haven  of  safety  for  the  German  fleet. 


THE   WORLD  S   CANALS  1 5 

pie  ted  in  19 14,  and  opened  by  the  Emperor  on 
June  24th,  1 9 14.  As  reconstructed,  the  Canal 
which  is  without  locks,  except  at  the  two  termini, 
will  permit  of  the  passage  of  modern  warships  and 
merchant  vessels.  It  now  has  a  minimum  depth 
of  36.08  feet,  a  bottom  width  of  144.35  ^^^t  and 
a  surface  width  of  334.64  feet.  The  length  is 
61  miles.  During  1910,  the  number  of  vessels 
using  the  canal  was  43,328,  of  7,231,458  net 
tons.  Less  than  half  of  the  vessels  were  of 
steam,  there  being  a  large  number  of  small  sail- 
ing ships  in  the  North  and  Baltic  Seas.  In 
1896,  20,068  vessels  of  1,751,065  tons  passed 
through  the  Canal. 

At  the  present  writing,  war  existing  between 
Germany  and  Austria  on  the  one  side,  and  Eng- 
land, France  and  Russia  on  the  other,  this  canal 
is  being  used  as  a  haven  of  safety  by  the  German 
fleet;  within  its  limits  the  fleet  is  absolutely  safe, 
and  from  this  point  of  vantage  forays  may  be 
made  whenever  desirable  occasion  presents.  The 
great  military  use  of  the  canal  is  thus  prac- 
tically exemplified. 

Not  content  with  the  great  Kiel  Ship  Canal,  a 
second  and  shorter  route  between  these  bodies 


1 6       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

of  water,   via  the    rivers   Elbe  and  Trave,   for 
smaller  craft,  was  opened  in  1900. 

In  1875  the  length  of  navigable  waterways 
(rivers  and  canals)  in  Germany  was  7,656  miles. 
In  that  year  began  the  new  German  policy  of 
systematic  reorganization  and  development  of 
waterways,  which  has  been  maintained  ever 
since.  This  has  resulted  in  no  great  increase  in 
mileage,  which  in  1900  was  7,843,  a  growth  of 
187  miles  in  15  years,  but  there  was,  as  stated 
by  the  German  ambassador  to  the  United  States, 
a  great  advance  in  efficiency.  All  the  improve- 
ments aimed  to  create  a  net  of  waterways  which, 
east  of  Berlin  assure  the  passage  of  vessels  of 
400  tons  capacity,  and  west  of  Berlin  of  600 
tons  capacity.  Rivers  were  corrected,  in  a  num- 
ber of  instances  canalized,  and  the  old  canals 
reconstructed  and  new  ones  built.  The  canaliza- 
tion of  the  Main  began  in  1883,  was  opened  in 
1886  and  the  Spree-Oder  Canal  was  completed 
in  1 89 1.  The  capacity  of  the  waterways  varies 
from  2,000  ton  vessels  on  the  Rhine  to  50  tons  on 
the  Oberland  Canal.  In  1907,  26,235  vessels  of 
a  tonnage  of  5,914,020,  operated  on  the  inland 
waterways  of   Germany.     Of   these   only  3,312 


THE   world's   canals  1 7 

vessels  of  188,762  tons  were  propelled  by  their 
own  power;  1,213  had  a  capacity  of  800  tons  and 
upwards,  and  in  1905  the  trafhc  carried  amounted 
to  56,400,000  tons  received  and  47,000,000  des- 
patched, a  total  of  103,400,000. 

The  following  is  a  comparative  table  of  rail- 
way and  waterway  traffic  in  Germany: 


Waterways 

Railways 

1875 

20,800,000 

167,000,000 

1885 

27,600,000 

200,000,000 

189s 

46,700,000 

331,000,000 

1900 

73,000,000 

487,000,000 

1905 

103,400,000 

588,700,000 

Traffic  arriving  at  all  points  on  the  Rhine  in 
191 2  amounted  to  61,189,316  tons,  comparing 
with  54,222,152  tons  in  1911. 

The  German  government  has  recently  granted 
permission  for  a  canal  from  Muhlheim  to  the 
Rhine,  having  a  depth  of  13  feet,  a  width  of  147 
feet,  and  a  capacity  for  1,700  ton  barges.  The 
estimated  cost  is  $2,114,000. 

The  British  Royal  Commission  on  Canals  and 
Waterways  reported  concerning  the  German 
waterways : 

"That  the. use  of  natural  and  artificial  water- 
ways in  cheapening  the  transport  of  coal  and 


16       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

other  low  value  traffic  increased  the  trade,  in- 
dustry and  wealth  of  Germany,  and  so  indirectly 
the  revenue  derived  by  the  railways  from  pas- 
senger traffic  and  high  class  goods.'' 

Count  von  Bernstorff,  the  German  Ambassa- 
dor, says: 

"The  transport  by  water  being  cheaper  than 
that  by  railways,  the  further  improvement  of 
the  German  waterways  promises  to  be  useful  to 
the  German  industrial  life.'' 


Great  Britain 

British  canals  are  nearly  all  privately  owned, 
one  third  of  them  by  railroads.  Tolls  are  levied. 
There  are  4,673  miles  of  inland  "canals  and 
navigation"  in  the  United  Kingdom,  the  capital 
raised  for  their  construction  and  improvement 
being  $237,753,840.  Their  revenue  in  1905 
amounted  to  $13,403,500,  of  which  $6,596,020 
was  received  from  tolls.  The  expenditures  were 
$9,456,065,  leaving  a  profit  of  $3,947,485.  Their 
traffic  aggregated  in  that  year  43,161,926  tons. 
These  results  have  been  attained  in  spite  of  the 
fact  of  the  large  number  of  locks,  the  payment 


THE   WORLD  S   CANALS  IQ 

of  tolls  and  the  limited  carrying  capacity  of  the 
boats,  usually  only  30  to  60  tons. 

In  England  and  Wales  alone  there  are  4j033 
miles  of  waterway,  which  in  1905  carried 
37,500,000  tons,  and  it  is  understood  that  the 
traffic  has  not  increased  much  since  that  time. 
This  waterway  traffic  compares  with  109,000,000 
tons  carried  on  the  English  railroad  systems  in 
191 1.  The  following  are  the  nine  principal 
waterways  in  England,  with  their  traffic  and 
net  revenue  in  1905: 

Waterway             Mileage  Tonnage  conveyed    Net  revenue 

Birmingham  Canal 159  7,546,000  £  91,607 

Aire  and  Calder  Navigation.  .'.  85  2,810,000  111,511 

Leeds  and  Liverpool  Canal  .  .  .  145  2,467,000  37,629 

Grand  Junction  Canal 189  1,794,000  51,328 

Thames  River — above  London 

Bridge  to  Inglesham 144  1,395,000  6,588  loss 

Trent  and  Mersey  Canal 119  1,137,000  15,883 

Regent's  Canal 11  1,045,000  52,991 

Weaver  Navigation 20  1,076,000  2,247 

Sheffield  and  South  Yorkshire 

Navigation 60  835,000  24,005 

932         20,105,000        £381,143 

A  Royal  Commission  on  Canals  and  Waterways, 
after  four  years  of  investigation,  has  rendered  an 
elaborate  report  with  the  object  of  modernizing 
and  nationahzing  the  British  Canal  systems. 


20       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE  WORLD 

In  Scotland  canals  of  the  old  type  have  de- 
teriorated, but  there  is  now  reviving  interest 
in  waterway  improvements,  and  among  the  proj- 
ects is  a  deep  water  canal  to  connect  the  Firth 
of  Forth  and  the  Firth  of  Clyde,  so  as  to  elimi- 
nate a  400  mile  route  around  the  rough  north 
coast  line  of  Scotland.  The  largest  canal  of 
Scotland  is  the  Caledonian,  from  Inverness  to 
Ft.  William,  and  is  navigable  by  vessels  150 
feet  in  length,  with  17  feet  draught. 

Ireland's  Grand  Canal,  165  miles  long,  con- 
necting Dublin  with  the  River  Shannon  and 
other  points,  is  its  chief  waterway. 

England's  most  important  canal  contribution 
was  promoted  by  the  Duke  of  Bridge  water,  in 
1757,  connecting  Manchester  and  Liverpool  and 
which,  by  process  of  evolution,  has  become  the 
large  and  improved  Manchester  Ship  Canal. 

Manchester  Ship  Canal 

It  extends  35^^  miles  from  Manchester  to 
Eastham  on  the  River  Mersey,  six  miles  from 
Liverpool.  The  canal  makes  a  seaport  of  Man- 
chester, and  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  arti- 
ficial waterway  achievements  in  existence.     Its 


THE   world's   canals  21 

depth,  originally  26  feet,  has  been  increased  to 
28  feet,  with  a  bottom  width  of  120  feet.  Five 
sets  of  locks  overcome  a  difference  in  elevation 
of  58  feet  6  inches.  The  canal  was  begun  in 
1887  and  opened  for  traffic  in  1894.  The  cost 
was  £14,860,000,  but  other  canal,  railway  and 
dock  construction  increased  the  amount;  and  the 
total  authorized  capital  on  December  31,  1913, 
was  £19,573,230,  of  which  £17,123,230  was 
created.  The  total  net  income  was  £356,077, 
and  the  balance  after  payment  of  fixed  charges 
was  £46,166.  Of  this  £22,288  was  appropriated 
to  reserve  and  £23,877  (2}^  per  cent)  was  avail- 
able for  the  corporation's  S/4  per  cent  preference 
stock.  In  1894,  when  the  canal  was  opened,  the 
sea-borne  traffic  was  686,158  tons,  the  barge  traffic 
239,501  tons,  total  925,659  tons;  the  total  receipts 
being  £97,901. 
Traffic  and  receipts  during  the  past  six  years: 


Sea-borne 

Barge  traffic 

Total 

Tolls  and  other 

traffic  tans 

tons 

tons 

receipts 

1913- •• 

•  .•5,457,218 

322,943 

5,780,161 

£654,937 

I9I2. . . 

. .  .5,021,691 

318,193 

5,339,884 

605,179 

I9II. . . 

. .  .4,894,670 

323,142 

5,217,812 

580,841 

I9I0. . . 

. .  .4,618,070 

319,561 

4,937,631 

555,735 

1909 . . . 

•  •  .4,290,765 

272,636 

4,563,401 

534,059 

1908... 

.•.4;3i7,965 

264,531 

4,582,496 

506,975 

22       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS  OF  THE  WORLD 


Denmark 

Denmark,  when  it  owned  Holstein,  had  a 
Baltic-North  Sea  canal,  part  of  which  is  now 
used  for  the  new  Kiel  Ship  Canal;  otherwise  its 
system  is  purely  local  and  not  extensive. 

Russia 

In  Russia,  Peter  the  Great  was  the  first  builder 
of  important  canals;  he  began  by  connecting  his 
capital  on  the  Neva,  by  way  of  the  Volga,  with 
the  Caspian  Sea,  to  reach  more  expeditiously 
the  caravan  trade  of  southwestern  Asia,  upon 
which  the  Muscovite  has  for  centuries  had  his 
eyes.  Subsequently  connection  was  made  with 
the  ports  on  the  Arctic  Ocean;  the  Black  and 
the  Caspian  seas  and  the  rivers  Dniester  and 
Vistula,  were  joined,  the  latter  involving  461 
miles  of  canal  and  river  way,  said  to  have  cost 
over  $100,000,000.  The  recently  finished  Cron- 
stadt-St.  Petersburg  Canal  cost  $10,000,000,  for 
its  six  miles  of  20  >^  feet  depth.  The  more 
ambitious  project  of  making  a  27-foot  waterway, 


THE   world's   canals  23 

from  the  Black  Sea  to  the  Baltic,  i,ooo  miles, 
to  cost  nearly  $100,000,000,  is  the  latest  pro- 
posed addition  to  Russia's  means  for  commer- 
cial expansion. 

In  Russia  there  are  rivers,  lakes  and  canals 
having  a  total  mileage  of  239,161,  of  which 
178,580  miles  are  now  navigable,  although  only 
one-third  of  this  length  is  navigable  by  steamers. 
The  artificial  waterways  have  a  length  of  1,225 
miles,  of  which  505  are  canals  and  556  natural 
water  courses  canalized.  About  one-third  of 
Russia's  freight  is  transported  by  water,  and  the 
proportion  has  varied  little  in  the  past  thirty 
years.  Waterway  traffic  has  increased  in  about 
the  same  percentage  as  railroad  traffic.  The 
appropriations  for  waterway  development  in 
1912  amounted  to  $12,104,000  and  in  1911  to 
$10,308,000.  From  1906  to  1910  they  averaged 
$8,480,500  a  year.  It  was  decided  in  191 2  to 
reconstruct  the  Mariinsky  Canal  by  building 
five  new  locks  on  the  River  Sheksna  at  a  cost 
of  $4,000,000.  The  River  Dnieper  is  being  im- 
proved for  247  miles,  at  a  cost  of  $15,231,125, 
to  be  spread  over  several  years. 


24     astieicial  waterways  of  the  world 

Austria-Hungary 

Austria-Hungary  is  crossed  by  the  great 
Danube  River,  a  great  water  thoroughfare.  Her 
canal  system  is  by  no  means  famous,  but  never- 
theless important,  as  it  connects  all  parts  of  the 
dual  kingdom  with  this  great  river,  and  is  there- 
fore necessarily  local  in  character.  Her  canals 
add  1,700  miles  to  her  5,500  miles  of  natural 
waterways. 

A  project  to  connect  the  Danube  with  the  Oder 
and  the  Elbe  is  under  consideration. 

Sweden 

Sweden  began  canahzation  early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  and  has  maintained  a  system 
serving  the  interests  of  several  interior  commer- 
cial cities;  but  the  system  is  chiefly  local,  her 
topography  not  calling  for  trunk  canals. 

Italy 

The  topography  of  Italy  does  not  lend  itself  to 
canahzation;  the  country  is  very  long  and  narrow, 


THE   WORLD'S   CANALS  25 

and  traversed  longitudinally  by  mountain  ranges, 
contained  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the 
Adriatic;  there  are  no  long  distances  to  the  sea 
shore  and  no  long  rivers,  the  Po  being  the  most 
important.  It  has  967  miles  of  navigable  rivers 
and  about  655  miles  of  canals.  The  canals  are 
almost  wholly  in  the  extreme  north,  in  the  valley 
of  the  Po,  in  Piedmont,  Lombardy  and  Venetia; 
they  possess  local  importance,  are  largely  used 
and  of  great  value  to  local  trade. 

Corinth 

The  Corinth  Ship  Canal  cuts  the  Isthmus  of 
Corinth  and  connects  the  Gulf  of  Corinth  and 
the  Saronic  Gulf,  is  about  4  miles  long,  70  feet 
wide  and  26  feet  deep;  it  shortens  the  journey 
from  the  Adriatic  to  the  /EgesLU  Sea  202  miles. 
Large  steamships  seldom  make  use  of  it,  how- 
ever, as  the  narrowness  of  the  canal  and  the  very 
strong  current  passing  through  the  same  at 
times,  render  passage  dangerous. 

This  canal  was  begun  by  Nero,  A.  D.  67;  a 
French  company  took  up  the  work  in  1881  and 
it   was    completed    by    a    Greek    company    and 


26       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

opened  for  public  use,  in  1893.  Widened  and 
protected  against  currents  at  its  termini,  and  a 
proper  system  of  towage  provided,  this  canal 
would  possess  great  commercial  and  military 
importance. 

Spain 

Spain  has,  in  the  matter  of  canals,  as  in  many 
other  respects,  failed  to  keep  abreast  of  her 
neighbors.  Her  long  cherished  plan  of  joining 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay 
remains  in  abeyance,  being  less  than  half  built 
at  the  present  time.  In  the  reign  of  Charles  II, 
the  Council  of  Castile  opposed  canal  plans,  as 
an  interference  with  the  wisdom  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, which  had  fixed  the  waterways. 

India 

India  has  one  of  the  world's  longest  canals, 
that  of  Bengal,  900  miles;  there  are  two  others 
of  about  600  and  450  miles  respectively,  but 
these  are  primarily  for  irrigation  purposes;  there 
are  many  lesser  ones  employed  for  transpor- 
tation. 


THE   WORLD  S   CANALS  27 


China 


China's  comprehensive  canal  building  probably 
began  in  the  seventh  century;  we  are  told  that 
her  Grand  Canal,  connecting  her  capital  with 
tidewater  at  Canton,  and  branching  to  other 
points,  finished  about  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, was  600  years  in  construction;  including 
canalized  rivers,  its  length  exceeds  i,ooo  miles,  the 
longest  navigable  waterway  in  the  world.  Lesser 
ones,  none  modern,  ramify  the  entire  countiy, 
which  until  very  recently  had  not  a  mile  of  railway. 
The  system  comprises  5,300  miles  and  has  proved 
indispensable  to  the  existence  of  that  teeming 
empire;  with  its  aid  the  great  problem  of  sub- 
sisting 400,000,000  human  beings  was  solved; 
not  only  are  transportation  facilities  and  irriga- 
tion provided,  the  canals  also  supply  an  abun- 
dance of  fish,  and  from  their  beds  is  drawn  a 
mass  of  muck  to  fertilize  the  soil. 

Suez 

The  Suez  Canal  was  conceived  by  the  dis- 
tinguished  Frenchman,   Ferdinand  De  Lesseps, 


25       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE  WORLD 

and  carried  to  successful  completion  under  his 
engineering  ability  and  direction.  It  connects 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  waters  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  Port  Said  being  its  northern  ter- 
minal, and  Suez  its  southern  terminal.  It  elim- 
inates the  long,  tedious  voyage  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  and  reduces  the  route  of  valuable 
European  Oriental  trade  by  at  least  one- third. 

It  was  an  epoch-making  event  in  ocean  navi- 
gation and  until  the  completion  of  the  Panama 
Canal,  it  was  beyond  comparison  the  most  im- 
portant and  most  useful  of  all  artificial  waterways. 

The  Suez  Canal  is  a  sea-level  ship  canal; 
opened  for  trafhc  November  17,  1869;  87  nau- 
tical miles  in  length;  depth  (1908)  10  meters, 
or  32  feet  9  inches,  and  maximum  vessel  draught 
of  8.53  meters,  or  28  feet.  A  depth  of  11  meters, 
or  36  feet  i  inch,  is  planned,  and  by  January  i, 
191 5,  it  is  expected  that  the  authorized  vessel 
draught  will  be  9  meters  14  centimeters,  or  30 
feet.  The  canal  is  carried  on  the  company's 
books  at  a  value  of  679,522,001  francs  (about 
$136,000,000)  and  the  company  has  other  assets 
of  84,184,053  francs.  The  average  time  in  passing 
through  the  canal  in  1913  was  16  hours  and  19 


THE   WORLD  S   CANALS 


29 


minutes.  A  high  record  total  of  25,775,000  tons 
of  goods  was  transported.  The  size  of  vessels 
using  the  canal  averaged  3,940  tons  in  1913  as 
compared  with  3,774  in  191 2.  Canal  dues  now 
stand  at  6.25  francs  per  net  ton.  The  total 
canal  receipts  from  all  sources  in  1913  were 
129,925,949  francs,  or  9,996,690  francs  less  than 
in  191 2,  of  which  9,748,899  francs  was  due  to 
reduction  in  transit  receipts.  The  canal  has 
proved  highly  profitable  to  its  owners;  and  in 
191 1  could  pay  a  dividend  of  33  per  cent  from 
tolls  of  $1.30  per  net  ton.  In  191 3  the  tolls 
were  reduced  to  6.25  francs,  or  $1,206. 


TRAFFIC  AND  RECEIPTS  FROM  TOLLS 

No.  vessels         Tonnage  net  Receipts  from  tolls 

1908 3,795      13,633,283  105,396,205  fr. 

1909 4,239      15,407,527  117,754,888 

1910 4,533      16,581,898  127,203,295 

1911 4,969      18,324,794  131,035,232 

1912 5,373      20,275,120  132,929,341 

1913 5,085      20,033,884  122,989,367 

No.  passengers  Receipts 

1908 218,967  2,189,675  fr. 

1909 213,122  2,131,220 

1910 234,320  2,343,202 

1911 275,259  2,752,595 

1912 266,403  2,499,020 

1913 282,23s  2,653,340 


30       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

During  the  first  five  months  (Jan.  i  to  May 
31)  of  1 9 14,  there  were  2,222  vessels  passing 
through  the  canal,  with  receipts  of  55,580,000 
francs,  against  2,178  vessels  and  receipts  of 
53,230,000  francs  in  1913,  and  2,392  vessels  and 
receipts  of  59,320,000  francs  in  1912.  The  canal 
is  owned  and  operated  by  a  French  company, 
in  which  the  British  government  holds  a  pre- 
ponderating interest. 


Although  the  records  indicate  that  the  Peru- 
vians had  canals,  these  were  probably  irrigation 
works;  certain  it  is  that  commercial  canals  in 
the  western  hemisphere  are  confined  to  North 
America,  and  practically  to  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  where  numerous  noteworthy  ex- 
amples exist.  The  five  great  inland  seas  natu- 
rally first  attracted  attention;  their  connection 
with  tidewater  has  given  the  engineering  pro- 
fession abundant  opportunity  to  display  their 
skill,  and  the  more  distinctly  local  undertakings 
of  joining  the  great  rivers  with  each  other  and 
with  the  great  lakes,  have  employed  the  energies 
of  all  progressive  citizens. 


THE  world's  canals  3 1 

In  the  United  States  alone,  the  total  mileage 
of  canal  works  is  placed  at  4^479  (see  Appendix 
Table  No.  i),  of  which,  however,  nearly  2,000 
miles  have  been  abandoned.  The  cost,  up  to 
1900,  is  estimated  to  have  been  $220,000,000. 
The  works  of  special  note  are  the  Erie,  in  New 
York  State;  the  Cincinnati  and  Erie,  in  Ohio; 
the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio,  and  the  Saulte  Ste. 
Marie,  in  Michigan.  The  last  named  was  opened 
in  1855;  the  parallel  Canadian  canal,  around  the 
same  Falls,  was  opened  in  1895;  together  their 
tonnage  in  1913  was  79,721,525. 

Canada  has  also  an  important  canal  around 
St.  Mary's  Falls  (opened  1895).  For  the  purpose 
of  getting  around  the  Niagara  Falls,  Canada  built 
the  Welland  Canal,  a  very  expensive  work,  but 
commercially  of  the  first  importance.  She  has 
many  lesser  canals,  and  by  means  of  her  system 
has  builded  an  enormous  volume  of  commerce. 
It  is  estimated  that  Canada  has  spent  fully 
$110,000,000  upon  artificial  waterways,  the 
largest,  relative  to  population  and  period  of  con- 
struction, on  record.  We  shall  presently  con- 
sider the  effect  of  this  policy  upon  her  com- 
merce. 


32       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

Mulhall,  the  eminent  British  statistician,  gives 
the  mileage  of  existing  canals  and  rivers  in  use, 
in  Europe,  at  over  77,000,  of  which  13,293  miles 
are  canals.  In  the  United  States  the  canal  mile- 
age is  reported  as  4,479,  the  mileage  of  other 
waterways  as  47,355;  while  Canada  has  535  miles 
of  canals  and  3,800  of  rivers.  The  total  of  the 
world's  canals  reaches  about  26,000  miles;  the 
cost  has  been  in  excess  of  $2,000,000,000. 

It  was  natural  that  the  advent  of  railways 
should  interfere,  in  most  countries,  with  the 
development  and  profitableness  of  canals.  In 
only  a  few  have  the  two  systems  been  used 
jointly  and  improved  equally.  The  more  speedy 
transit  furnished  by  rail  is  the  chief  factor  in 
attracting  freight  at  the  expense  of  the  slower 
canal  transportation.  This  has  been  specially 
noticeable  in  the  United  States.  But  the  ques- 
tion of  cheapening  transportation  has  again 
come  to  the  fore;  expert  testimony  shows  that 
by  means  of  properly  adapted  waterways  the 
charge  is  at  least  one-third  less,  and  this  is  ac- 
compHshed  by  the  expenditure  of  one-thirtieth 
the  hauling  power.  This  fact,  and  the  enormous 
increase  in  traffic,  have  revived  interest  in  the 


THE  WORLD  S   CANALS  33 

subject  of  waterways  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  The  prices  of  necessaries  of  life  have 
been  enhanced  by  a  multitude  of  causes,  and  the 
v/orld  is  endeavoring  to  reduce  the  part  of  the 
cost  due  to  transportation. 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK 

The  Period  of  Inception 

The  value,  nay  the  imperative  need,  of  artifi- 
cial connections  between  the  inland  lakes  and 
rivers  of  the  United  States  and  the  streams 
emptying  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  impressed 
itself  upon  the  far-seeing  men  of  the  days  before 
the  Revolution,  when  the  migration  of  the  most 
venturesome  of  the  population  toward  the  west 
began.  Particularly  in  New  York  was  this  the 
case;  for  thriving  settlements  had  sprung  into 
existence  along  the  banks  of  her  beautiful  rivers. 
Albany  was  already  a  place  of  considerable 
importance,  and  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk 
boasted  a  number  of  hamlets.  As  early  as  1724, 
Cadwalader  Golden,  Surveyor  General,  subse- 
quently Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  colony,' 
after  an  exploration  of  a  part  of  the  region,  pic- 
tured a  future  "scene  of  inland  navigation  such 
as  cannot  be  paralleled  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world."  In  1768,  Governor  Moore,  in  a  message 
to  the  New  York  General  Assembly,  called  at- 

34 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     35 

tention  to  the  obstruction  to  navigation  of  the 
Mohawk  River  occasioned  by  the  Falls  of  Cana- 
joharie,  and  recommended  that  this  be  removed 
by  sluices  upon  the  plan  of  the  Languedoc  Canal 
in  France.  Gouverneur  Morris,  as  early  as  1777, 
predicted  the  eventual  union  of  the  waters  of 
the  Lakes  with  those  of  the  Hudson  and  the 
Atlantic. 

George  Washington,  with  the  practical  ap- 
preciation of  an  engineer  and  surveyor,  immedi- 
ately after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
urged  the  utilization  of  all  natural  facilities  for 
connecting  the  middle  Vv^est  with  the  seaboard. 
Nowhere  did  the  natural  barriers  presented  by 
the  Appalachian  range  of  mountains  between 
the  seaboard  and  the  vast  territory  to  the  west, 
offer  so  feasible  a  route  as  that  to  be  found  in 
New  York  State;  the  Hudson  River,  carrying 
tidewater  through  a  mountain  cleft  for  a  distance 
of  150  miles;  its  tributary,  the  Mohawk,  extend- 
ing westward  almost  to  the  smaller  lakes,  which 
practically  formed  a  chain  to  the  great  inland 
sea,  Ontario,  and  brought  one  within  a  com- 
paratively short  distance  of  Erie;  these  were 
ideal  conditions  for  canalization. 


36       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE  WORLD 

Washington  had  famiharized  himself  with  the 
general  topography  of  the  region  by  an  explora- 
tion undertaken  in  company  with  Governor 
George  Chnton  and  Alexander  Hamilton,  in 
1783.  He  thus  became  an  intelhgent  and  per- 
sistent advocate  of  the  plans  which  then  began 
to  take  shape  among  the  New  Yorkers.  Wash- 
ington's view  was  not  wholly  the  commercial 
one;  to  him  it  was  also  a  question  of  binding  the 
people  of  the  nation  together  for  the  purpose  of 
perpetuating  the  Union.  If  the  sturdy  pioneers 
who,  out  of  the  narrow  Indian  trails  were  h-^w- 
ing  roads  through  the  wilderness,  planting  settle- 
ments here  and  there,  but  ever  farther  westward, 
were  to  be  deprived  of  adequate  means  of  com- 
munication with  the  east,  they  would  find  an 
outlet  by  way  of  the  great  Mississippi  and  its 
tributaries,  then  in  large  part  in  alien  hands, 
with  thriving  trade  centres  at  St.  Louis  and 
other  points,  and  an  important  port  in  New 
Orleans.  Louisiana  belonged  to  France,  and 
comprehended  the  Mississippi  Valley  as  far 
north  as  Minnesota,  where  the  French  had  an 
important  trading  post,  Hennepin,  now  Min- 
neapolis.    France  claimed  the  country  drained 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     37 

by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries;  on  the 
west  there  was  no  one  to  dispute  their  claim,  and 
on  the  east  the  struggHng  settlers  from  the  At- 
lantic states  were  not  numerous  enough  or  strong 
enough  to  present  much  opposition.  The  eastern 
boundary  of  Louisiana  was  wholly  undetermined 
and  later  formed  the  basis  of  much  fighting. 
The  French  had  Fort  Duquesne,  the  present  site 
of  Pittsburg,  from  which  General  Braddock,  of 
unfortunate  memory,  aided  by  Washington, 
sought  in  vain  to  dislodge  them. 

With  Washington,  as  with  Charlemagne,  arti- 
ficial waterways  represented  links  in  the  chain 
which  should  hold  together  the  empire.  The 
great  and  fertile  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies 
was  likely  to  become  a  distinct  political  entity, 
or  the  province  of  a  foreign  power,  and  thus  be 
wholly  estranged  from  the  seaboard  states,  unless 
the  seaboard  bestirred  itself  to  maintain  close 
relations. 

The  Erie  Canal  played  a  most  important  part 
in  retaining  and  binding  to  the  Atlantic  states 
this  great  middle  west,  and  when  Napoleon  sold 
us  Louisiana,  the  Great  Lakes  region,  through 
the  service  of  the  Erie  Canal,  became  intimately 


X 


38      ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS  OF  THE  WORLD 

bound  to  the  east  by  the  reciprocal  bonds  of 
commerce. 

But  the  country  was  poor;  the  devastating 
War  of  Independence  had  left  the  people  strug- 
gling to  maintain  existence;  a  totally  inadequate 
political  system  had  first  to  be  done  away  with 
and  a  sound  constitutional  government  of  united 
states  established.  The  repudiation  of  State 
debts  had  made  it  most  difficult  to  borrow  money 
for  novel  enterprises,  and  increasing  already 
burdensome  taxes  was  impracticable.  As  an  il- 
lustration we  have  the  experience  of  Christopher 
Coles,  an  engineer  of  note,  who  had  made  a 
survey  of  the  Mohawk  Valley  in  1784;  he  sub- 
mitted plans  to  the  New  York  legislature  for  the 
connection  of  the  Hudson  River  and  Lake  On- 
tario. He  and  his  associates  were  tendered 
the  profits  of  the  scheme  in  perpetuity  if  they 
would  only  carry  it  out;  but  he  failed  to  enlist 
the  requisite  financial  assistance.  It  is  almost 
pathetic  to  read  that  the  legislature  appropriated 
the  munificent  sum  of  $125  to  enable  Coles  to 
complete  his  surveys. 

Another  survey,  more  comprehensive  in  char- 
acter, was  made  in  1791,  by  direction  of  the 


I 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     39 

legislature  through  the  efforts  of  Governor  George 
Clinton.  In  1792  two  companies  were  chartered, 
one  to  construct  a  canal  to  connect  the  Hudson 
River  with  Lake  Champlain,  which,  however, 
"fell  by  the  wayside;"  the  other,  the  "Western 
Inland  Navigation  Company,"  to  connect  the 
Hudson  and  Lake  Ontario.  The  State  took  200 
shares  of  the  $25  stock  of  the  company  and 
loaned  it  £15,000  on  mortgage,  for  which  it  also 
later  took  stock.  With  this  support  something 
was  actually  accomphshed;  by  the  end  of  1796 
the  company  had  six  miles  of  canal  at  and  about 
Little  Falls,  navigable  by  16-ton  vessels,  to 
faciHtate  the  use  of  the  upper  Mohawk;  the 
work  cost  $400,000.  Soon  thereafter  connection 
was  made  between  the  Oswego  River  (flowing 
into  Lake  Ontario)  and  Cayuga  and  Seneca 
Lakes.  This  initial  canal  work  was  done  by 
WilHam  Weston,  afterwards  Superintendent  of 
Canals.  Among  the  most  earnest  supporters 
were  Thomas  Eddy,  the  philanthropist,  and 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  the  patroon.  These 
men  saw  in  the  project  for  the  Erie  waterway 
a  means  by  which  New  York  City  would  obtain 
the  commerce  of  the  great  West  "forever"  with- 


40       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

out  need  of  fearing  rivalry;  the  City  would 
thereby  become  'Hhe  greatest  commercial  em- 
porium of  the  world,  excepting,  eventually  per- 
haps, New  Orleans  or  some  other  depot  at  the 
mouth  of  the  majestic  Mississippi."  The  thought 
that  anything  could  supersede  water  transporta- 
tion was  evidently  far  from  their  minds. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  arguments  and  discus- 
sions and  the  obvious  interest  of  the  State, 
notwithstanding  the  enormous  cost  of  transporta- 
tion, estimated  to  have  been  $ioo  per  ton  from 
Buffalo  to  New  York,  many  years  were  to  pass 
before  anything  further  was  done  toward  a  canal 
system.  The  people  who  were  building  up  the 
central  and  western  parts  of  the  State  felt  the 
need  of  better  transit  facilities.  Ohio  was  com- 
ing into  prominence  as  a  producing  territory  and 
a  commercial  field,  soon  (in  1803)  to  become  one 
of  the  sisterhood  of  States.  Indiana,  Michigan, 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin  were  now  the  outer  terri- 
tories, but,  rapidly  growing.  Here  was  an  empire 
to  be  exploited  commercially.  But  the  people  of 
New  York  City  and  the  southern  end  of  the 
State,  to  whom  the  benefits  to  accrue,  naturally 
perhaps,  appeared  more  remote,  were  for  a  long 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     4 1 

time  only  mildly  affected  by  the  agitation. 
The  enthusiasm  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  who  told 
them  among  other  things  that  he  foresaw  the 
time  when  ships  would  "sail  from  London 
through  the  Hudson  River  to  Lake  Erie''  by  a 
splendid  canal,  failed  to  impress  them.  This 
patriotic  citizen,  then  a  Senator  in  Congress, 
was  joined  by  De  Witt  Clinton,  whose  name  is 
associated  with  New  York's  canal  system  for  all 
time.  It  was  uphill  work;  the  support  of  the 
people  of  the  lower  end  of  the  State  was  neces- 
sary, and  the  influence  of  the  opposition,  the 
"bourbons"  of  the  period,  among  whom  were  the 
leading  "sachems"  of  the  Tammany  Hall  of 
that  day,  was  difhcult  to  overcome.  The  ex- 
pense of  the  enterprise,  a  present  bugaboo,  over- 
shadowed the  prospect  of  much  greater  future 
benefits. 

A  traveler  of  the  period  has  left  us  an  interest- 
ing record  of  the  difficulties  of  transit  then  pre- 
vailing; it  took  from  two  to  five  days  to  reach 
Albany  from  New  York  City,  by  river;  thence 
overland  to  Schenectady,  17  miles,  to  the  navi- 
gable part  of  the  Mohawk  River;  to  Utica,  104 
miles,    by    sailboats,    with    auxiliary    swing-oars 


42       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

and  poles  to  be  used  in  case  of  a  calm;  these 
made  i8  to  20  miles  per  day,  consuming  the 
better  part  of  a  week;  to  Oswego,  114  miles 
further,  took  another  nine  days.  On  the  Hudson 
River  freight  rates  averaged  40  cents  per  hundred- 
weight; the  small  canals  already  referred  to, 
charged  $2.25  to  $3  per  ton.  On  the  Mohawk 
the  rate  was  75  cents  per  hundredweight  to 
Utica  and  $1.25  on  the  western  section,  from 
Utica  to  Oswego,  making  a  total  of  about  $50 
per  ton  from  New  York  to  Oswego.  There  was 
much  dissatisfaction  at  the  charges  imposed  by 
the  canal  company,  and  comparatively  large 
quantities  of  freight  were  taken  overland  in  that 
section,  owing  to  the  exorbitant  rates. 

Robert  Fulton's  successful  demonstration  of 
his  steamboat  in  1807,  by  means  of  which  the 
transit  time  to  Albany  was  soon  reduced  to 
30  hours,  tended  to  increase  the  dissatisfaction 
of  the  people  "up-State"  with  existing  condi- 
tions. Clinton  was  quick  to  seize  upon  this  as 
a  lever  to  influence  public  opinion.  At  this  time, 
also.  President  Jefferson's  plan  to  spend  the 
accumulated  Federal  surplus  (then  approximating 
$10,000,000)   in   the  construction  of  roads  and 


THE   CANAL   SYSTEM   OE   NEW  YORK  43 

canals,  a  project  which  had  the  full  approval 
of  Albert  Gallatin  and  the  other  broad-gauge 
members  of  the  Jefferson  party,  gave  New 
Yorkers  hope  that  they  would  receive  support 
from  the  National  government.  In  1808,  the 
New  York  legislature,  at  the  behest  of  Joshua 
Forman  of  Onondaga,  and  Thomas  R.  Gold, 
of  Oneida,  appointed  a  committee  to  consider 
plans  for  a  canal  to  Lake  Erie,  with  a  view  to 
obtaining  aid  from  Congress  by  an  appropriation 
to  accomplish  ^'that  great  national  object."  It 
was  declared  that  ''while  this  State  would  for- 
bear to  derogate  from  the  claims  of  others,  she 
felt  warranted  in  presenting  to  the  government 
of  the  Union  her  own  territory  as  preeminently 
distinguished  for  commercial  advantage." 

Simeon  De  Witt,  the  Surveyor  General,  was 
directed  to  cause  the  route  suggested  to  be  ac- 
curately surveyed,  and  the  sum  of  six  hundred 
dollars  ($600!)  was  appropriated  by  the  legisla- 
ture for  the  purpose.  The  survey  demonstrated 
the  complete  availability  of  the  route  which  was 
later  adopted.  De  Witt,  who  was  appointed 
Surveyor  General  in  1784,  held  that  office  con- 
tinuously for  fifty  years,  covering  thus  the  entire 


44       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE    WORLD 

period  of  the  conception,  birth,  and  first  growth 
of  the  canal  system,  to  the  promotion  of  which 
he  gave  his  hfe  service. 

It  was  not  until  1810,  however,  that  a  Canal 
Commission  was  actually  provided  for  by  the 
legislature;  it  included  besides  Morris,  Clinton 
and  De  Witt,  William  North,  Thomas  Eddy  and 
Peter  B.  Porter.  In  181 1  Robert  Fulton  and 
Robert  E.  Livingston  were  added.  A  thorough 
exploration  at  this  time  produced  an  estimate  of 
cost  of  a  canal  to  Lake  Erie  at  $5,000,000. 
Morris  and  Clinton  were  sent  to  Washington  to 
endeavor  to  obtain  support  from  the  Federal 
government,  but  President  Madison  was  not 
favorable  to  the  use  of  public  money  for  this 
purpose,  and  the  committee  returned  to  New 
York  disappointed. 

The  scope  of  the  canal  enterprise  was  rightly 
considered  national  in  character.  While  Madison 
and  Monroe  were  solicitous  that  the  canal  be 
built,  as  strict  constructionists,  they  believed 
that  no  aid  could  be  extended  without  first 
amending  the  Federal  Constitution.  Gouver- 
neur  Morris  urged  that  the  Federal  government 
should  build   the  canal,   and  its  operation  and 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     45 

control  should  be  regulated  by  '^treaty"  between 
the  State  and  nation.  In  this  proposition  we 
see  the  then  conception  of  ''State  sovereignty," 
and  how  lightly  the  bonds  •  of  union  were  re- 
garded; and  also  observe  that  the  question  of 
the  regulation  of  interstate  commerce  was  early 
brought  into  prominence.  The  "general  welfare '^ 
clause  of  the  organic  law  had  not  yet  been  elab- 
orated. 

The  War  of  1812,  with  its  burdens  and  respon- 
sibilities, eliminated  the  Federal  government  as 
a  possible  builder  of  the  canal. 

The  agitation  was  continued  throughout  the 
State,  especially  by  CKnton,  after  his  defeat  for 
the  Presidency;  and  in  June,  181 2,  the  legislature 
passed  an  act  authorizing  the  Canal  Commission 
to  borrow  money  and  accept  grants  of  land  pre- 
paratory to  the  beginning  of  work.  But  borrow- 
ing money  during  the  war  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  the  progress  of  the  enterprise  halted. 
In  1816,  Governor  Tompkins  strongly  urged  that 
the  State  proceed  to  build  the  canal  without 
further  delay.  A  new  Commission  was  created 
with  Clinton  at  its  head,  further  surveys  were 
made,  and  more  elaborate  estimates  of  costs  pre- 


46       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

pared,  which  included  connection  with  Lake 
Champlain  as  well  as  with  Lake  Erie.  The 
width  of  the  canal  was  to  be  40  feet  at  surface, 
28  feet  at  bottom,  and  the  depth  4  feet.  The 
estimate  of  cost  was  $5,442,813.  On  April  15, 
181 7,  the  legislature  terminated  the  long  specu- 
lation by  actually  authorizing  the  construction 
of  the  canal,  creating  a  Canal  Board,  consisting 
of  all  the  executive  State  officers  except  the 
Governor,  which  was  given  power  to  borrow 
money  on  the  credit  of  the  State.  The  canal 
fund  created  was  to  be  under  their  charge.  The 
Clinton  Commission  was  continued,  charged  with 
the  duty  of  construction,  operation  and  mainte- 
nance. This  division  of  authority  soon  caused 
difficulties  which  resulted  in  vesting  the  power 
of  both  in  a  differently  constituted  board,  created 
in  1826. 

The  patronage  of  the  canal  appealed  to  the 
selfishness  of  men  and  involved  in  its  construc- 
tion the  vicissitudes  of  party  politics,  engendering 
the  fiercest  poKtical  and  personal  animosities. 
Clinton  was  not  above  using  the  patronage  to 
regain  and  promote  his  political  prestige,  but 
above  all  things  he  devoted  his  energies  to  the 


THE   CANAL   SYSTEM   OF   NEW   YORK  47 

success  of  the  canal.  He  boldly  made  it  the  issue 
in  the  gubernatorial  campaign  of  1817;  he  com- 
pelled his  nomination  for  the  Governorship  and 
defeated  his  opponent,  Peter  B.  Porter,  one  of 
his  colleagues  on  the  Canal  Commission  of  1810, 
by  the  decisive  total  of  43,310  votes  against 
1,479,  ^  most  extraordinary  expression  of  public 
opinion  and  confidence. 

His  inauguration  took  place  on  July  i,  181 7, 
and  three  days  later,  on  the  nation's  chief  holi- 
day, he  had  the  supreme  satisfaction  of  breaking 
ground  for  the  canal  at  Rome,  then  a  promising 
village  on  the  Mohawk  River  (formerly  Fort 
Stanwix),  amid  great  ceremony  and  jubilation. 
Samuel  Young,  one  of  the  Canal  Commissioners, 
in  his  address,  said: 

"By  this  great  highway,  unborn  millions  will 
easily  transport  their  surplus  productions  to  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic,  procure  their  supphes,  and 
hold  a  useful  and  profitable  intercourse  with  all 
the  maritime  nations  of  the  earth." 

Thus,  after  thirty  years  from  the  date  when 
his  uncle,  George  Clinton,  had  urged  the  matter 
upon  the  people,  they  finally,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  nephew  of  the  first  Governor,  se- 


48       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS    OF   THE   WORLD 

riously  began  work.  The  little  canals  of  the 
Western  Inland  Navigation  Company,  already 
referred  to,  were  bought  for  $152,718;  extension 
was  pushed  vigorously,  and  by  October,  181 9, 
the  section  between  Rome  and  Utica,  15  miles, 
was  open  to  navigation.  In  November  of  the 
same  year  boats  from  the  Hudson  River  passed 
into  Lake  Champlain;  in  1820  the  Erie  reached 
the  Seneca  River,  and  it  was  confidently  reported 
that  it  would  be  completed  by  1823.  In  this 
hope  Clinton  was  disappointed,  and  his  oppo- 
nents made  the  most  of  the  delay. 

The  control  of  the,  for  that  day,  vast  patron- 
age of  the  canal,  intensified  political  rancor  and 
gave  to  politics  a  vehemence  and  virulence  un- 
precedented. Clinton  was  charged  with  every- 
thing from  bankruptin*g  the  State  to  plotting 
secession  of  New  York  from  the  Union.  Al- 
though reelected  Governor  in  1820,  over  Tomp- 
kins, who  now  opposed  the  canal,  his  majority 
was  so  slender  and  his  hold  upon  the  people  so 
precarious  during  the  second  term,  that  he  was 
compelled  to  retire  from  the  contest  for  a  third 
nomination  in  1822.  In  April,  1824,  he  was  re- 
moved from  the  position  of  Canal  Commissioner, 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     49 

which  he  had  held  continuously  from  the  crea- 
tion of  the  original  Commission  in  1810,  even 
while  Governor.  This  humiliation,  believed  at 
the  time  to  be  his  political  deathblow,  was  ac- 
complished by  the  overwhelming  vote  of  the 
legislature,  dominated  by  Van  Buren,  William  L. 
Marcy,  Silas  Wright  and  their  associates,  who 
had  now  become  all-powerful  as  the  "Albany 
Regency." 

But,  after  all,  the  people  wanted  the  canal; 
the  new  regime  was  not  apparently  making  satis- 
factory progress.  Clinton  took  advantage  of 
the  situation,  accepted  a  nomination  for  the 
Governorship  in  1824,  and  in  the  Fall  of  that 
year,  scarcely  six  months  after  his  humihation, 
he  was  elected  by  a  vote  of  103,452  against 
87,093.  With  Clinton  again  in  the  harness,  the 
canal  work  progressed  at  a  lively  pace;  and 
again  he  experienced  the  satisfaction  of  presiding 
over  the  destinies  of  the  State  ofBcially  when, 
on  October  26,  1825,  the  first  boat  to  make  the 
trip  through  the  finished  Erie  Canal  left  Buf- 
falo, with  the  Governor,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer, 
Joshua  Forman,  Chancellor  Livingston,  William 
L.   Stone  and  Thurlow  Weed  among  those  on 


50       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

board;   conspicuous  by  their  absence  were  the 
members  of  the  "Albany  Regency." 

The  trip  of  the  "Seneca  Chief,"  as  the  canal- 
boat  was  named,  was  probably  the  most  thor- 
oughly celebrated  event  New  York  State  has 
ever  experienced.  All  along  the  route  was  a 
jubilant  people,  making  it  a  continuous  holiday 
parade;  ringing  of  bells  and  booming  of  cannon 
greeted  it  everywhere;  and  Clinton  was  the  hero 
of  the  fortnight.  On  November  4,  the  boat, 
escorted  from  Albany  by  a  fleet  of  steamers 
arrived  in  New  York  City,  where  civic,  military 
and  naval  parades  followed,  accompanied  by  the 
most  extravagant  demonstrations  of  popular 
enthusiasm.  A  memorial  medal  was  struck  by 
the  municipal  authorities,  the  face  of  which  was 
subsequently  adopted  as  the  seal  of  the  Canal 
Department.  Two  kegs  of  water  from  Lake 
Erie  had  been  brought  along,  and  one  of  these 
was  taken  to  Sandy  Hook  and  the  water  cere- 
moniously poured  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the 
contents  of  the  other  keg  were  bottled  as  me- 
mentos, and  one  of  these  bottles  was  presented 
to  Lafayette,  who  had  a  short  time  before  been 
the  guest  of  the  City.    Governor  Clinton  poured 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     5 1 

the  contents  of  the  kegs  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
saying  as  he  did  so: 

"This  solemnity,  at  this  place,  on  the  first  ar- 
rival of  vessels  from  Lake  Erie,  is  intended  to  in- 
dicate and  commemorate  the  navigable  communi- 
cation which  has  been  accomplished  between  our 
Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in 
about  eight  years,  to  the  extent  of  more  than  425 
miles,  by  the  wisdom,  public  spirit  and  energy  of 
the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York;  and  may  the 
God  of  the  Heavens  and  of  the  Earth  smile  most 
propitiously  on  this  work  and  render  it  subservient 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  human  race.'' 

An  enthusiastic  citizen  had  procured  bottles  of 
water  from  the  Nile,  the  Ganges,  the  Indus,  the 
Thames,  the  Seine,  the  Rhine,  the  Mississippi,  the 
Columbia,  the  Orinoco  and  La  Plata,  all  of  which 
were  also,  with  proper  ceremony,  emptied  into  the 
Atlantic,  after  those  of  the  Erie  had  been  mingled 
with  its  brine..  This  minghng  of  waters  charac- 
terized as  the  "marriage  of  the  waters,"  typified 
the  ambitious  faith  of  the  builders  that  the  com- 
merce of  the  canal  system  was  bound  to  com- 
mingle with  and  be  enlarged  by  the  commerce 
of  all  portions  of  the  world. 


52       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

The  festivities  lasted  until  the  night  of  Novem- 
ber 7,  concluding  with  a  grand  ball.  It  is  re- 
corded that  the  news  of  the  opening  of  the  Grand 
Canal,  as  it  was  called  for  many  years,  was  sent 
from  Buffalo  to  Sandy  Hook,  over  500  miles,  in 
81  minutes,  by  means  of  booming  cannon  placed 
at  proper  distances  along  the  hne.  Our  forbears, 
rejoicing  over  this  great  achievement  in  trans- 
portation, sought  to  hasten  the  news  of  the 
canal's  opening,  as  fast  as  sound  travels,  by  boom- 
ing cannon.  They  little  dreamed  that  in  less  than 
a  century  Buffalo  and  New  York  would  converse 
with  the  same  ease  and  certainty  as  persons  seated 
face  to  face. 

The  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal  was  op- 
posed by  the  ^^ penny- wise"  economists,  as  a 
senseless  squandering  of  the  people's  money. 
It  was  opprobriously  called  "Clinton's  Ditch," 
and  sections  of  the  State  not  adjacent  to  the 
hne  of  the  canal  were  vehement  in  opposition 
to  being  taxed  for  an  enterprise  of  most  ques- 
tionable value,  and  which,  should  it  prove  a 
success,  would  build  up  canal  counties  at  the 
expense  of  the  northern  and  southern  tier  coun- 
ties of  the  State.     This  spirit  of  rivalry  later, 


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THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     S3 

when  the  success  of  the  canal  was  recognized 
by  all,  resulted  in  the  construction  of  a  series  of 
canals  reaching  practically  all  parts  of  the  State, 
for  which  there  was  no  commercial  justification, 
and  whose  recognized  uselessness  induced  their 
subsequent  abandonment.  There  was,  perhaps, 
a  pardonable  hope  that  these  lateral  canals  would 
do  for  their  localities  what  the  Erie  was  doing 
for  the  country  between  Buffalo  and  Albany  and 
New  York  but  the  leverage  which  insured  their 
building  was  the  "pork  barrel''  principle  which 
obtains  in  River  and  Harbor  appropriations  at 
Washington.  These  outlying  canals  were  sup- 
ported as  the  price  of  maintenance  of  the  main 
canals. 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK 

The  Period  of  Development 

Thus  ^ Clinton's  Ditch,"  as  his  opponents  in 
politics  contemptuously  called  it,  was  a  fixed 
fact,  notwithstanding  ex-Governor  (then  Vice 
President)  Tompkins'  declaration  a  short  time 
before,  that  it  was  a  "chimerical  project." 
There  were  not  a  few  men  of  prominence  who 
still  regarded  it  as  a  pubHc  work  undertaken 
many  years  too  soon.  Its  cost  had  exceeded 
the  estimates;  for  when,  after  some  years,  the 
"finishing  touches"  had  been  actually  completed, 
the  total  amounted  to  $7,143,789,  or  more  than 
$2,000,000  more  than  the  highest  anterior  es- 
timate. But  it  began  to  yield  revenue  before  its 
completion,  and  in  fact  had  turned  into  the 
Treasury  more  in  tolls  than  the  actual  cost,  be- 
fore that  account  was  closed  in  1836,  thus  justify- 
ing the  faith  of  its  advocates  in  a  much  greater 
measure  than  even  they  had  anticipated. 

In  1826  Clinton  was  elected  Governor  for  the 
54 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK      55 

fourth  time,  and  died  in  office  in  1828.  Few  if 
any  men  have,  within  the  borders  of  a  single 
State  of  our  Union,  achieved  as  great  good  as 
fell  to  the  lot  of  De  Witt  Chnton;  few  have 
perhaps  had  opportunities  equal  to  those  which 
came  his  way;  but,  after  all,  it  was  his  genius 
and  constant  devotion  to  the  purpose  in  view, 
that  led  him  to  seize  these  opportunities  and 
make  the  most  of  them,  despite  rather  tactless 
pohtical  methods  which  occasionally  created 
obstacles.  Few  men  in  public  life  suffered  such 
violent  and  factious  opposition,  and  overcame 
them  by  forcing  upon  the  minds  of  the  people 
the  measures  which  would  best  serve  them.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  his  labors  were  ignored,  for 
he  was  given  high  station;  but  it  nevertheless 
remained  for  the  future  to  fully  appreciate  the 
great  merits  of  his  efforts  for  the  general  welfare. 
Not  the  least  of  the  testimonials  to  his  achieve- 
ments is  the  statue  which  adorns  the  most 
prominent  place  in  the  front  of  the  magnificent 
home  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  the  City 
of  New  York. 

The   canal   system   thus   completed,   near   the 
end  of   1825,   included   only  the  Erie  and   the 


56       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

Champlain;  the  former,  352  miles  in  length  mth 
9  miles  of  adjuncts,  the  latter  81  miles,  including 
feeders.  Together  they  had  cost  the  State  the 
sum  of  $9,048,963;  and  to  the  end  of  1837  addi- 
tional construction  work  found  necessary  cost 
$928,981  more,  giving  a  total  during  this  first 
period  of  nearly  $10,000,000.  Beginning  with 
the  modest  revenue  of  $5,436  in  182 1,  the  tolls 
produced  annually  increasing  sums,  the  total 
for  1825  being  $566,112;  by  1830  the  $1,000,000 
mark  was  passed,  and  the  total  revenues  to  the 
end  of  1837  aggregated  over  $15,000,000,  thus 
more  than  repaying  the  original  outlay,  after 
providing  for  operating  expenses.  No  reports  of 
tonnage  carried  were  made  in  the  earlier  years, 
but  judging  by  the  tolls  the  quantity  must 
have  reached  over  1,000,000  tons  annually  for 
several  years  before  1836,  when  a  tonnage  of 
1,310,000  is  recorded.  Freight  payments  for 
the  period  ending  with  1837  ^^^o  exceeded  a 
total  of  $15,000,000.  Rates  were  reduced  very 
largely;  the  charge  from  Buffalo  to  Albany  was 
still  $22  in  1824;  in  1835  it  was  down  to  about 
$4.  The  promised  diversion  of  traffic  to  New 
York  was  being  realized;  the  signal  success  of 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     57 

the  undertaking  led  to  other  similar  projects, 
which  the  people  for  a  time  gladly  favored.  In 
1825  work  was  begun  on  a  canal  ^S  miles  long, 
connecting  the  Erie  with  Lake  Ontario  at  Os- 
wego, and  also  on  the  Cayuga  and  Seneca,  23 
miles  in  length;  in  1830  the  Chemung,  in  1831 
the  Crooked  Lake,  in  1833  the  Chenango,  and 
in  1837  the  Black  River  and  Genesee  Valley 
canals  were  begun;  in  the  following  decade  lesser 
works  were  provided  for,  making  in  all  a  system 
of  artificial  waterways  over  960  miles  in  length. 
State  aid  to  the  amount  of  $800,000  was  also 
extended  to  the  Delaware  &  Hudson  Company, 
which  had  a  canal  108  miles  long,  partly  in 
Pennsylvania,  which  was  abandoned  in  1898. 

It  soon  became  obvious  that  the  carrying 
capacity  of  the  Erie  Canal  was  not  equal  to  the 
commercial  demands.  It  could  only  float  boats 
not  exceeding  80  feet  long  by  15  feet  wide  and 
3^^  feet  draught,  the  maximum  burthen  being 
75  tons.  The  employment  of  larger  vessels 
would  enable  the  State  to  reap  greater  advantage 
from  the  enormous  trade  which  was  now  rapidly 
developing  in  the  west  and  northwest;  the  agita- 
tion for  enlargement  became  sufficiently  strong 


58       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

to  induce  the  legislature,  by  an  act  of  May  11, 
1835,  t^  authorize  this  work,  so  as  to  accommo- 
date vessels  of  200  tons,  and  by  1837  it  was 
being  vigorously  pushed.  The  estimate  of  cost 
of  enlargement  varied  as  the  work  progressed, 
ranging  from  $12,500,000  to  $30,000,000.  This 
was  an  unprecedented  sum  to  be  placed  under 
the  control  of  any  party  administration.  The 
Albany  Regency,  then  all-powerful,  had  adopted 
the  political  tenet  of  Marcy,  "To  the  victors 
belong  the  spoils."  Extravagance  and  waste 
were  clearly  shown  to  have  governed  in  the 
execution  of  the  work,  and  coming  as  it  did  im- 
mediately after  the  paralyzing  financial  and 
commercial  crisis  of  1837,  it  seemed  for  a  time 
as  if  the  credit  of  the  State  would  be  seriously 
compromised.  It  was  impossible  to  promptly 
pay  the  cost  of  the  work,  and  it  was  therefore 
suspended  by  order  of  the  legislature,  but  not 
until  the  expenditure  had  exceeded  $12,000,000 
without  having  produced  practical  results.  Sus- 
pension of  work  added  to  the  waste  which 
bad  management  and  extravagance  had  caused. 
What  may,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  a  much 
greater  evil  than  this  money  loss,  was  the  serious 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     59 

lowering  of  political  morals  engendered  by  the 
lavish  disbursement  of  public  money,  shown  by 
a  legislative  investigation  in  1846.  The  "canal 
ring''  was  born,  and  what  has  since  been  con- 
cisely termed  "graft"  fastened  itself  upon  the 
body  politic  so  firmly,  that  for  two  generations 
every  endeavor  to  do  anything  for  the  canal 
system  has  encountered  distrust  and  hesitation. 
The  people  are  compelled  to  be  on  guard  against 
the  insidious  influences  of  the  plunder  that  the 
business  offers  to  unscrupulous  jobbers  and 
politicians. 

During  this  period  another  factor  affecting  the 
future  of  the  canals  first  became  manifest;  steam 
railroad  transportation  had  been  invented.  In 
1 83 1,  the  first  line,  the  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Rail- 
road, was  opened  from  Albany  to  Schenectady, 
a  distance  of  17  miles.  The  Erie  Railway  was 
projected,  and  in  1836  received  State  aid  (for 
the  benefit  of  the  "southern  tier  counties")  to 
the  amount  of  $3,000,000.  The  company  failed 
in  the  troublesome  years  after  1837,  and  only 
part  of  the  line  from  Piermont  westward  was 
ready  for  use  in  1841,  by  which  time  Albany 
and  Buffalo  had  been  connected  by  rail.     In  the 


6o       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

same  year  the  Hudson  River  Railroad  from  New 
York  to  Albany  was  completed,  thus  giving  a 
primitive  sort  of  through  rail  line  from  the  lakes 
to  the  seaboard.  The  Erie  finally  reached  Buf- 
falo in  1851. 

The  record  of  operations  of  the  canals  from 
1838  to  1847  showed  no  effect  from  railway  com- 
petition. They  had  transported  in  the  decade 
17,300,000  tons  of  freight,  valued  at  $893,000,000, 
of  which  more  than  half,  9,500,000  tons,  of  the 
value  of  $348,000,000,  was  freight  carried  through 
to  New  York  City.  The  State  received  in  tolls 
$22,200,000  (a  general  average  of  $1.28  per  ton 
carried),  and  freighters  collected  $22,600,000 
(an  average,  without  regard  to  distance,  of 
$1.30^  per  ton.)  The  actual  rate  for  down 
freight  from  Buffalo  to  Albany  fell  as  low  as 
$2.65;  tolls  were  $3.28;  up  freight,  always  higher, 
ranged  from  $9.53  to  $4,  and  tolls  were  $6.57 
per  ton.  The  time  required  for  the  transit  of 
through  freight  was  10  days;  passengers  going  by 
light,  swift  ''packet  boats"  made  the  trip  in 
3}^  days. 

In  1846  there  was  a  revision  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  State,  in  v/hich  the  canals  received 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK      6 1 

considerable  attention.  A  better  system  of 
control  was  provided  for,  a  definite  sinking  fund 
to  pay  off  the  canal  debt  was  established,  and 
a  portion  of  the  revenues  from  tolls  was  to  be 
applied  for  current  State  purposes.  A  general 
provision  prohibited  incurring  debts  in  excess 
of  $1,000,000,  without  the  people's  consent,  and 
bonds  issued  were  to  be  repayable  in  eighteen 
years.  The  constitution  also  forbade  the  sale 
of  any  of  the  canals  for  all  time.  There  was  an 
adjustment  of  accounts  between  the  State  and 
the  canals  up  to  that  date,  which  shows  that  the 
general  revenues  of  the  State  had  contributed 
$7,924,520  to  the  canals,  including  $320,518  de- 
rived from  sales  of  lands,  partly  those  donated 
to  the  canals;  there  had  been  repaid  to  the  State 
dn  this  account  $2,537,603,  leaving  a  balance 
of  $5,386,917.  This  represented  the  net  invest- 
ment in  the  canals  by  the  State,  in  1846.  The 
specific  canal  debts  was  at  this  time  slightly 
under  $17,000,000. 

The  agitation  for  enlargement  of  the  canal 
was  resumed,  and  with  the  feeling  that  the  con- 
stitutional provisions  rendered  it  reasonably  safe 
to  make  the  great  expenditures  required,  without 


62       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

waste,  the  assent  of  the  legislature  was  given. 
By  1849  it  was  possible  to  put  into  use  vessels 
of  100  tons  burthen,  and  by  1853,  after  an  ex- 
penditure of  about  $5,000,000,  vessels  of  200 
tons  were  actually  in  use  on  the  Erie.  But  re- 
sults were  coming  too  slowly;  accordingly  in  1854 
there  was  submitted  to  the  people  a  plan  under 
which  larger  debts  could  be  incurred  for  canal 
purposes,  and  the  people  voted  by  185,771  to 
60,526  to  expedite  the  work.  In  the  six  years 
following,  over  $12,500,000  was  spent  in  con- 
struction, and  by  1862  the  work  of  enlargement 
was  considered  complete.  Thus,  after  27  years  of 
agitation  and  a  total  expense  of  over  $33, ooo,ooq, 
the  Erie  Canal  was  70  feet  wide  at  surface,  52 
feet  at  bottom,  and  7  feet  deep,  enabling  vessels 
with  6  feet  draught,  of  a  tonnage  of  240  tons,  to 
navigate  it  conveniently.  This  increase  of  ca- 
pacity meant  a  miaximum  boat  load  of  8,000 
bushels  of  wheat,  compared  with  1,000  bushels 
in  the  primitive  stage  and  2,500  bushels  from 
1830  to  1850.  The  money  spent  was  not  all 
borrowed;  the  canal  revenues  helped  very  largely 
to  meet  the  expenditures.  Thus,  to  the  end  of 
1862,  the  total  cost  of  construction  and  enlarge- 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     63 

ment  for  the  whole  system  aggregated  $61,000,- 
000;  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  had  cost 
$33,000,000;  the  Erie  and  Champlain  had  cost 
prior  thereto  about  $10,000,000,  and  the  lesser 
works  $18,000,000.  The  canal  debt  reached  its 
maximum  in  i860,  when  the  amount  outstand- 
ing was  $27,107,000,  or  about  $20,000,000  more 
than  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  1835,  when  en- 
largement work  began.  The  net  revenues  of 
the  system  had  been  in  excess  of  $73,000,000, 
and  the  direct  payments  by  the  State  for  canals 
had  been  exceeded  by  the  amounts  contributed 
from  tolls  to  the  general  State  funds  under  the 
constitutional  provision  of  1846 — some  $8,500,- 
000.  During  the  period  from  1846  to  1862  the 
redemptions  of  debt  (paying  off  the  old  bonds 
as  they  matured)  amounted  to  about  $25,000,000, 
and  the  new  issues  were  $28,000,000.  It  would 
appear,  therefore,  that  the  canals  paid  fully 
$13,000,000  of  the  sum  spent  for  enlargement. 
It  should  be  stated  that  a  rapid  reduction  of  the 
debt  took  place  after  construction  expenses  ceased; 
thus  by  1867  the  debt  was  only  $15,700,000;  by 
1869  it  was  down  to  $12,000,000;  thereafter  liqui- 
dation was  slower,  as  the  bonds  had  not  matured. 


64       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

The  effect  of  the  enlargement  of  the  canal  was 
immediately  shown  in  the  increase  of  business; 
for  in  the  decade  from  1848  to  1857  the  total 
freight  carried  was  36,100,000  tons,  considerably 
more  than  double  the  quantity  transferred  in 
the  preceding  ten-year  period;  the  value  of  the 
freight  rose  in  even  greater  ratio,  making  a  total 
of  $1,765,000,000.  Of  this  total  $624,000,000  of 
values,  represented  by  20,600,000  tons,  was  tide- 
water freight,  carried  down  to  New  York  City. 
The  State  received  $29,800,000  in  tolls,  although 
the  rates  had  been  lowered;  the  average  per  ton 
was  82}44-  Freight  charges  yielded  the  boat 
owners  $30,300,000,  thus  giving  an  average  per 
ton  slightly  higher  than  the  tolls  (nearly  8^4) , 
but  nevertheless  46/44  per  ton  less  than  in  the 
previous  decade.  Actual  charges  for  down 
freight  had  fallen  to  $2.67  in  1857;  for  transfer 
the  other  way  (from  Albany  to  Buffalo)  the 
rate  was  as  low  as  $2.13  per  ton.  The  cost  of 
maintenance  and  operation  of  the  canals  in- 
creased with  enlargement,  in  some  respects  out 
of  proportion;  in  1847  the  ratio  was  18.52  per  cent 
of  the  revenue;  during  the  decade  under  review  it 
averaged  30.52  per  cent,  having  been  as  high  as 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     65 

41.51  per  cent  in  1854.  It  was  in  the  last-named 
year  that  the  legislature  provided  for  a  ''contract 
board,"  which  had  charge  of  the  entire  subject  of 
new  work  and  repairs.  The  result  was  at  first  fairly 
satisfactory,  but  there  were,  as  we  shall  see 
later,  serious  criticisms,  fully  warranted,  against 
this  system,  when  laxity  of  supervision  intervened. 
A  number  of  factors  affected  the  business  of 
the  canals  in  the  decade  following  1857;  the  con- 
sequence of  the  financial  crisis  of  that  year  was 
one  of  the  untoward  elements;  the  active  compe- 
tition of  railways,  now  first  seriously  felt,  was 
another.  The  effects  of  these  conditions  were 
reflected  in  the  diminished  traffic,  and  the 
freighters  clamored  for  a  further  reduction  of 
tolls,  which  was  accorded.  Upon  the  other 
hand,  after  i860,  the  Civil  War  closed  opera- 
tions via  the  Mississippi  River,  and  such  an 
abundance  of  freight  was  offered  that  the  canals 
did  not  fail  to  benefit  very  largely  by  the  cir- 
cumstance, as  well  as  the  railways.  Thus  the 
total  carriage  of  freight  by  canals  in  this  decade 
reached  48,800,000  tons,  valued  at  $2,095,000,000, 
of  which  27,400,000  tons  was  through  freight, 
somewhat  less  in  proportion  than  formerly.    The 


66       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

value  of  the  latter  was  $1,011,000,000.  The 
State  received  an  average  of  nearly  j64  per  ton 
in  tolls,  in  all  $37,000,000,  and  freighters  were 
paid  $45,900,000,  being  about  g^j  per  ton — quite 
an  increase  over  the  average  rate  in  the  preced- 
ing decade,  partly  due  to  the  reduction  of  tolls. 
The  charge  from  Buffalo  to  Albany,  at  first 
down  to  $2.03,  ranged  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  period  about  $2.50  per  ton;  from  Albany  to 
Buffalo  the  rail  competition  was  seriously  felt; 
return  cargoes  were  taken  in  the  earlier  years  at 
a  rate  as  low  as  $1.21,  and  rose  only  to  about 
$1.50  per  ton.  The  maintenance  and  operation 
cost  was  again  about  30  per  cent. 

Statistics  relating  to  railway  traffic  are  avail- 
able for  this  and  subsequent  periods.  The  total 
freight  carried  by  the  New  York  Central  and 
Erie  railways,  and  the  ton  mileage  of  the  rail- 
ways and  canals,  are  shown  in  the  following 
comparative  table: 

TON  MILEAGE 

Railways  Per  cent            .,  Canals  a^id  Per  ceiit 

tons       of  total  Rivers      by  rail 

1853-1857       7,700,000     27.9     1,344,000,000  4,617,000,000     22.5 

1858-1862     12,500,000     36.0     2,353,000,000  5,899,000,000     28.5 

1863-1867     23,200,000     46.6     4,156,000,000  6,839,000,000     37.8 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK      67 

Other  railway  companies  were  also  entering 
the  field  and  becoming  important  competitors. 
It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  the  railways 
profited  very  largely  from  the  closure,  by  the 
Civil  War,  of  southern  outlets  for  the  commerce 
of  the  western  States.  The  canals  also  benefited, 
but  there  were  clear  indications  that  the  land 
lines  were  gaining  in  greater  proportion.  There 
was  still  an  advantage  on  the  side  of  the  canals 
in  the  lower  classes  of  freight  for  the  long-haul, 
as  shown  by  the  tonnage  returns,  but  this  ad- 
vantage w^as  destined  also  to  be  lost  to  them 
later,  particularly  after  the  New  York  Central 
and  Hudson  River  railroads  were  consolidated 
in  1869.  This  was  obviously  the  time  for  the 
friends  of  the  canal  system  to  demand  further 
improvements. 

Another  constitutional  convention  was  held 
in  the  year  1867,  and  much  attention  was  given 
to  the  canals.  But  the  convention  recommenda- 
tions in  general  were  upon  partisan  lines,  and 
were  emphatically  rejected  by  the  popular  vote. 
The  discussion  gives  us  some  interesting  informa- 
tion. Thus,  while  it  was  well  known  that  the 
canals   had   been   yielding   handsome   revenues, 


6S       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

nevertheless  the  debt  and  the  interest  thereon 
were  considered  a  burden.  Were  interest  pay- 
ments also  reckoned,  claimed  the  short-sighted 
ones,  the  canal  system  would  be  shown  to  have 
been  very  costly.  In  response  data  were  fur- 
nished showing  the  total  cost  to  1867,  with  in- 
terest thereon  at  7  per  cent,  the  legal  rate  at  the 
time;  the  expense  for  operation,  maintenance  and 
repairs,  likewise  with  interest,  and,  upon  the  other 
hand,  the  total  revenues  and  the  interest  which 
these  might  have  earned  at  the  same  rate;  with 
the  result  showing  that  the  State  had  given  less 
than  $7,500,000  more  than  it  received. 
The  figures  follow: 

Cost  of  construction  and 

improvement $64,710,837  interest  thereon  $  93,736,655 

Cost  of  operation,  main- 
tenance and  repairs  .  .  .     24,377,114  interest  thereon      27,268,895 


Total  outgo $89,087,951  interest  thereon  $121,005,550 

Aggregate  cost,  with  interest  thereon  .  .   $210,093,502 
Revenues  rec'd,  with  interest  thereon.  .     202,619,510 

Apparent  excess  of  cost $     7,473,992 


It  was  further  shown  that  the  Erie  and  Cham- 
plain  canals  had  a  credit  balance  of  $38,455,560 
upon  this  basis,  and  that  the  others  produced 
a  debit  balance  of  $45,965,940. 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     69 

The  ''plant"  of  the  system  had  thus  cost 
actually  less  than  $65,000,000;  but  the  railways 
of  the  State  had,  up  to  1850,  invested  in  con- 
struction and  equipment  fully  $60,000,000;  by 
i860  this  sum  had  been  doubled;  by  1870  prac- 
tically quadrupled.  The  canals  had  for  some 
years  been  receiving  annually  less  than  $1,000,000 
for  construction  and  repairs,  whereas  the  rail- 
ways were  adopting  every  means  offered  to  in- 
crease their  efhciency,  to  enlarge  their  hauling 
capacity,  to  reduce  the  cost  of  the  service.  Thus 
real  competition  soon  became  out  of  the  question. 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK 
iS6y-igog 

The  blindness  to  their  own  interests  on  the 
part  of  the  people,  by  neglecting  the  canals,  was 
due  chiefly  to  the  lack  of  adequate  leadership 
among  the  public  men;  the  railway  interests 
were  doubtless  influential  in  preventing  the  State 
from  keeping  the  canals  in  a  proper  state  of 
efficiency.  This  apathetic  condition  continued, 
and  nothing  of  real  consequence  was  done  until 
after  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century; 
only  ineffectual  attempts  to  provide  remedies 
were  made  in  the  interval. 

Yet  there  are  some  matters  worthy  of  record 
occurring  during  the  decade  from  1868  to  1877. 
The  contract  system  of  doing  the  canal  work  was 
thoroughly  overhauled;  a  legislative  committee 
in  1867  confirmed  the  general  belief  that  the 
operations  of  the  "canal  ring"  had  caused  great 
waste;   a   canal   convention   in    1870   denounced 

the   practices   under   the   system  in  no   uncer- 

70 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK      71 

tain  language,  demanding  the  prosecution  of  all 
persons  who  had  fraudulently  obtained  public 
money  thereunder.  But  there  prevailed  an  era 
of  general  extravagance  and  plundering  of  the 
State  treasury;  and  the  ringleaders  were  so  firmly 
intrenched  in  power  that  they  defied  all  ordinary 
attacks.  The  notorious  Tv/eed  was  one  of  the 
chief  characters  in  the  lower  ranlvs  of  the  new 
Albany  Regency;  Governor  Hoffman  did  not 
escape  censure  for  his  inability  or  unwillingness 
to  break  the  ring.  Under  his  successor,  Governor 
Dix,  some  efforts  were  made  in  that  direction; 
a  State  commission  was  appointed  to  suggest 
remedies,  and  some  prosecutions  were  begun; 
but  it  was  left  to  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  who  became 
Governor  in  1875,  to  put  the  wheels  in  motion 
energetically.  He  had  investigated  and  thor- 
oughly mastered  existing  conditions,  and  devoted 
his  great  ability  and  all  the  influence  of  his  office 
to  uprooting  the  evils  and  safeguarding  the 
future.  Many  officials  lost  their  positions,  many 
were  pilloried  before  the  public  judgment  and 
suffered  lasting  disgrace;  but  few  criminals  were 
convicted,  and  none  of  the  public  money  di- 
verted was  recovered,  so  wide  were  the  ramifica- 


72       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

tions  of  the  ^'ring/'  and  so  great  its  power.  To 
illustrate  the  extravagance,  the  record  showed, 
for  the  five  years  ending  1874,  an  expenditure 
for  operation  and  maintenance  of  the  canals, 
exclusive  of  "extra  repairs,"  of  $9,202,000  out 
of  $15,058,000  receipts — or  more  than  61  per  cent. 

In  1874,  coincidently  with  Tilden's  election, 
the  people  adopted  a  constitutional  amendment 
prohibiting  the  use  of  sinking  funds  for  any 
other  purposes  than  those  of  extinguishing  the 
debts  (they  had  been  trenched  upon  by  the 
extravagance);  claims  against  the  State  were  to 
be  barred  by  limitation,  just  as  ordinary  claims 
are.  The  purpose  was  to  more  closely  scrutinize 
the  entire  canal  business. 

In  the  government  of  New  York  City,  as  well 
as  in  various  departments  of  the  State  Govern- 
ment, boards  and  commissions  had  been  tried 
with  unsatisfactory  results.  The  people  came 
to  beheve  that  in  order  to  concentrate  responsi- 
bihty,  it  is  necessary  to  concentrate  power. 
Divided  responsibihty  permitted  derelict  public 
officials  to  escape  punishment,  and  the  policy  of 
placing  departments  under  the  control  of  a 
single   responsible   head   was   inaugurated.     Ac- 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     73 

cordingly;  in  1876,  another  constitutional  amend- 
ment provided  for  a  Superintendent  of  Public 
Works  in  the  place  of  the  '^contract  board"  and 
canal  commissioners.  This  officer  was  charged 
with  the  supervision  of  navigation  and  repairs, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Canal  Board.  In 
order  to  make  it  more  impressive,  apparently, 
the  prohibition  against  sales  of  the  canal  prop- 
erty was  repeated  in  the  amendment.  It  was, 
however,  deemed  judicious  to  abandon  some  of 
the  canals  which  had  proved  too  expensive;  after 
1878  the  only  ones  operated  were  the  Erie, 
Champlain,  Oswego,  Cayuga  and  Seneca,  and 
Black  River.  Notwithstanding  untoward  condi- 
tions, the  business  of  the  canals  for  the  decade 
1 868-1 87 7  proved  the  largest  in  their  history, 
freight  carried  having  aggregated  57,700,000  tons, 
valued  at  $2,032,000,000,  showing  a  decline  in 
average  values.  Of  this  fully  31,200,000  tons,  of 
the  value  of  $1,047,000,000,  was  downward  tide- 
water freight.  But  the  railways  carried  over 
104,000,000  tons  during  the  period,  showing  that 
relatively  the  canals  were  losing  ground.  Tolls 
had  again  been  lowered  after  the  financial  crisis 
of  1873,  and  hence  aggregated  only  $26,200,000, 


74       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

an  average  of  44.5^  per  ton;  freight  rates  were 
well  maintained,  the  average  per  ton  being  86^ 
and  the  total  paid  $50,200,000;  the  down-freight 
rate  (Buffalo  to  Albany)  fell  as  low  as  $1.52  at 
the  end  of  the  period,  and  up-freight  was  only 
2>4  per  ton  higher.  The  result  of  the  railway 
competition  in  the  latter  half  of  the  decade 
placed  their  ton  mileage  far  ahead  of  that  of  the 
canals,  so  that  for  the  period  the  figures  were 
19,576,000,000  ton  miles  for  the  New  York 
Central  and  Erie  lines,  against  13,680,000,000 
for  water  lines,  a  ratio  of  58.8  per  cent  for  the  rail- 
ways, compared  with  33.8  per  cent  in  the  previous 
decade.  A  number  of  devices  to  increase  facilities 
on  the  canals  were  experimented  with  at  this  time, 
particularly  steam  towage,  but  without  practical 
results. 

The  dechne  of  the  canal  business  actually 
began  in  1874  and  despite  the  lowering  of  tolls. 
The  record  year  for  tonnage  was  1872,  when 
6,673,570  tons  were  moved;  the  record  year  for 
values  was  1868,  when  a  total  of  $305,301,920 
was  reached. 

A  movement  was  now  inaugurated  to  abolish 
all  tolls,  and  so  popular  did  it  prove  that  the 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     75 

legislature  submitted  a  constitutional  amend- 
ment for  this  purpose  to  the  people  in  Novem- 
ber, 1882.  It  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  486,106 
against  163,151.  This  measure  provided  that  the 
expenses  of  operation  and  maintenance  be  borne 
by  the  general  revenues  of  the  State,  and  au- 
thorized borrowing  to  cover  deficiencies. 

When  tolls  were  abolished  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  New  York  canal  system  was  made  a 
charge  upon  the  taxpayers,  the  natural  impulse 
toward  economy  on  the  part  .of  all,  plus  the 
selfish  but  shortsighted  policy  of  opposition  on 
the  part  of  locahties  not  adjacent  to  the  canals, 
reenforced  by  the  opposition  from  competing 
railways  ably  and  shrewdly  manifested  by  rail- 
way managers,  rendered  the  future  of  the  canals 
most  precarious.  Their  proper  maintenance  was 
jeopardized  by  meagre  appropriations  and  all 
enlargement  of  capacity  rendered  impossible 
save  by  constitutional  amendment.  An  object 
lesson  was  required  to  teach  the  public  that  the 
canals,  in  their  then  condition,  hedged  in  and 
crippled  by  restrictive  constitutional  provisions, 
must  inevitably  sink  into  decay;  that  they  could 
not  compete  with  the  railways  and  serve  the 


76       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE  WORLD 

commercial  interests  of  the  State  unless  they 
kept  abreast  of  the  times,  enlarged  their  capacity, 
and  adopted  modern  improvements,  the  same  as 
their  competitors  were  doing.  Experiences  fol- 
lowing 1882  led  many  good  friends  of  the  canals 
to  question  the  wisdom  of  abolishing  tolls. 

There  was  at  this  time  substantially  no  State 
debt  excepting  the  canal  bonds  amounting  to 
about  $9,000,000.  The  financial  results  of  the 
entire  system  to  the  end  of  1882  were  as  follows: 

Total  revenues  of  canals $135,418,325 

Expense  of  operation  and  maintenance 48,399,287 

Net  revenues $  87,019,038 

Cost  of  construction  and  improvement 78,685,580 

Profit  without  considering  interest $    8,333,458 

But  the  loss  on  the  canals  that  had  been 
abandoned  was  over  $18,600,000,  so  that  the 
existing  system  had  to  its  credit  a  gain  of  nearly 
$27,000,000.  The  interest  payments,  of  course, 
largely  overbalanced  this  profit;  about  $48,000,- 
000  of  the  cost  of  the  ''plant"  had  been  bor- 
rowed; the  rest  came  from  the  canal  and  general 
revenues.  The  canals  had  paid  back  to  the 
general  funds  $18,850,000;  but  the  Erie  had  paid 
the  State  $42,599,718  more  than  the  face  of  its 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     77 

cost,  and,  in.  fact,  a  large  surplus  above  the  cost 
with  interest  on  the  debt  incurred. 

The  canals  had  carried  nearly  200,000,000 
tons  of  freight  in  the  60  years  of  their  operation; 
the  value  thereof  was  $8,326,000,000.  Contrast 
this  with  the  modest  prediction  of  the  canal 
commissioners  in  181 2,  that  the  system  might 
develop  a  trade  of  250,000  tons  a  year!  Freights 
brought  to  the  boat  owners  $182,500,000,  thus 
making  a  total  of  tolls  and  freight  of  nearly 
$318,000,000.  These  figures  represent  only  a 
fraction  of  the  benefits  derived.  The  State  grew 
enormously  in  wealth  as  well  as  in  population;  in 
181 7  the  assessed  valuation  was  $299,000,000; 
it  had  more  than  doubled  by  1837;  again  doubled 
by  1853,  when  the  returns  showed  $1,266,000,000. 
This  was  again  doubled  by  1876,  and  in  1882 
the  amount  stood  at  $2,800,000,000,  of  which 
the  "canal  counties"  returned  over  75  per  cent. 
The  greater  part  of  the  early  growth  and  much  of 
the  later  was  unquestionably  due  to  the  existence 
of  the  canals. 

AboHtion  of  tolls  did  not  check  the  falHng  off 
of  business;  during  the  five  years  ending  1882, 
the  average  annual  tonnage  was  5,500,000,  valued 


yS       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

at  $205,000,000,  of  which  3,400,000  tons  was 
downward  tidewater  freight,  valued  at  $92,000,- 
000.  In  the  decade  following  1882,  the  average 
fell  to  slightly  over  5,000,000  tons,  valued  at 
$146,000,000.  The  quantity  of  freight  carried 
down  to  New  York  City  averaged  2,800,000 
tons,  the  value  thereof  $64,000,000;  the  two 
principal  competing  railways  were  carrying  an 
average  of  over  34,000,000  tons  annually,  and 
other  lines  were  taking  more  than  the  canals. 
That  the  question  of  State  tolls  was  not  an  im- 
portant factor  was  conclusively  shown.  There 
was  an  evident  desire  for  a  speedier  service, 
notwithstanding  the  higher  cost. 

The  friends  of  the  canals  were  not  inactive; 
upon  several  occasions  efforts  were  made  to 
improve  the  conditions,  notably  in  the  legislative 
session  of  1891,  when  a  plan  was  formulated. 
This  met  with  defeat,  which  brought  about  a 
convention  of  delegates  from  chambers  of  com- 
merce and  boards  of  trade  in  October,  1892,  at 
which  the  whole  question  was  fully  discussed 
and  the  legislature  addressed  in  eloquent  terms, 
setting  forth  the  enormous  advantage  of  the 
waterways  to  the  State,  the  menace  to  the  com- 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     79 

merce  of  the  State  involved  in  the  continuance 
of  the  prevaiKng  policy  and  the  urgency  of  im- 
mediate action.  A  commission  was  appointed 
to  consider  the  subject  seriously,  and  it  reported 
favorably  for  the  improvement,  but  confining 
itself  to  rather  narrow  lines.  After  long  discus- 
sions and  much  opposition,  in  no  small  degree 
instigated  by  railway  interests,  the  legislature 
passed  a  measure  providing  for  the  deepening  of 
the  Erie  Canal  and  the  Oswego  Canal  to  9  feet 
and  the  Champlain  to  7  feet,  at  an  expense  esti- 
mated at  $9,000,000,  to  provide  which  so  much 
as  might  be  necessary  was  to  be  borrowed  by 
means  of  3  per  cent  bonds.  This  work  was  ex- 
pected to  increase  the  capacity  of  canal  boats  one 
third.  In  order,  presumably,  to  protect  the  boat 
interests  and  prevent  the  canals  from  falUng  under 
the  control  of  the  railways,  an  act  was  passed 
in  1896  prohibiting  corporations  formed  to  navi- 
gate the  canals  from  being  capitalized  in  excess 
of  $50,000. 

The  most  far-sighted  advocates  of  canal  im- 
provement felt  that  the  plan  of  1895  was  merely 
trifling  with  the  subject:  that  it  was  a  "penny- 
wise  and  pound-f ooHsh "  policy;  and  so  it  proved. 


8o       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE  WORLD 

Not  only  was  all  the  money,  of  which  $8,500,000 
was  borrowed,  spent  without  bringing  the  ex- 
pected results,  but  the  State  had  again  to  ex- 
perience scandalous  practices  in  the  mode  of 
expenditures.  It  may  be  said,  however,  for  the 
sake  of  the  canals,  "It's  an  ill  wind  that  blows 
no  one  good;"  the  denouement  of  this  failure 
served  to  fix  pubhc  attention  more  generally 
upon  the  value  of  the  waterways,  and  more  of 
the  citizens  of  the  State  gave  it  intelligent  con- 
sideration. Successive  commissions  of  experts 
were  appointed,  elaborate  surveys  made,  and 
most  elaborate  and  complete  data  obtained. 
Various  plans  were  earnestly  advocated,  and 
finally  a  plan  of  enlargement,  estimated  to  cost 
$101,000,000,  which  would  enable  1,000-ton  ves- 
sels to  navigate  the  Erie,  and  materially  enlarge 
the  Champlain,  was  brought  forward.  Not  so 
long  ago  such  a  sum  would  have  staggered  the 
legislature  and  the  people,  but  when  the  question 
was  submitted  to  the  latter  in  November,  1903, 
it  was  approved  by  a  vote  of  673,010  against 
427,698.  This  contemplates  the  enlargement  of 
the  prism  of  the  Erie  from  70  feet  to  122  feet 
git  surface  and  of  the  depth  to  12  feet  instead  of 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     8 1 

9;  accommodating  boats  150  feet  long  instead 
of  98  feet,  with  draught  of  10  feet  in  place  of  y^^ 
feet,  thus  more  than  trebHng  the  present  carr3dng 
capacity. 

Since  1892  the  average  annual  tonnage  of  the 
canals  has  been  3,600,000,  an  annual  average 
loss  of  1,400,000  tons  compared  with  the  pre- 
ceding decade.  A  slight  improvement  was  shown 
in  1906  over  previous  years,  due  to  the  enormous 
increase  in  traffic  generally.  It  is  estimated 
that  the  average  freight  rate  per  ton  does  not 
exceed  6o(/,  making  total  freight  earnings  per 
year  $2,100,000  as  against  $7,679,000  in  1871. 
The  railways  reaching  New  York  and  competing 
with  the  canals  now  carry  70,000,000  tons  an- 
nually; the  canals  carry  less  than  5  per  cent  of  that 
tonnage,  the  canal  tonnage  being  in  19 13  only 
2,602,035  tons. 

Several  years  must  pass  before  the  improve- 
ments now  under  way  are  complete  and  the  wis- 
dom of  the  same  tested  by  actual  experience. 
There  can  be  no  rational  doubt  of  the  necessity 
of  modernizing  the  canals  and  bringing  their 
capacity  up  to  present  commercial  needs.  It  is  \^ 
incontestable   that  the  Erie   Canal  has  proved 


82       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE  WORLD 

most  beneficial  in  the  past.  In  length  it  is  sec- 
ond only  to  the  Great  Canal  of  China,  among 
the  artificial  commercial  waterways  of  the  world. 
For  a  quarter  of  a  century  it  was  the  greatest 
transportation  line  in  the  country,  and  this  was 
during  the  country's  first  industrial  and  com- 
mercial growth,  the  most  important  in  this  re- 
spect, since  the  country  had  not  yet  attained 
financial  strength.  Its  benefits  were  not  confined 
to  the  people  of  the  State;  they  extended  on  the 
one  hand  to  the  people  of  the  west  country, 
giving  them  an  outlet  for  their  products  and 
stimulating  their  development  and  prosperity;  it 
gave  the  people  of  the  east,  and  notably  to  New 
England,  and  also  to  Europe,  cheaper  trans- 
portation, which  meant  lower  prices  to  the  con- 
sumer, particularly  of  food  products.  It  not 
only  furnished  cheap  transportation,  but  com- 
pelled the  railroads  to  transport  goods  at  rea- 
sonable rates. 

The  all-rail  rate  from  Chicago  to  New  York 

is  the  base  line  upon  which  all  railroad  rates 

east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the  Ohio  are 

fixed,  and  to  which  they  are  proportioned.*    The 

*  Testimony ,of  Albert  Finck  before  the  Hepburn  Committee. 


THE   CANAL   SYSTEM   OF   NEW   YORK  S^ 

all-rail  rate  from  Chicago  to  New  York  has 
been  steadily  lowered  to  meet  the  water  rate 
(by  lakes,  canal  and  river)  from  Chicago  to 
New  York.  In  this  way  the  Erie  Canal  has 
been  the  regulator  of  railway  rates,  and  has 
cheapened  freights  to  all  people  of  the  State 
and  directly  benefited  them,  whether  they  reside 
in  the  canal  counties,  or  in  the  southern  tier, 
or  in  the  St.  Lawrence  valley.  For  instance, 
the  all-rail  rate  in  1868  upon  wheat,  Chicago 
to  New  York,  was  4.2.64  per  bushel;  in  1879  it 
was  20(j!,  and  in  late  years  it  has  averaged  under 
ii(j(.  Carried  by  lake  steamer  to  Buffalo  and 
by  canal  and  river  to  New  York,  the  rate  was 
23^  in  1868,  12^  in  1879,  and  has  been  $4  i^ 
recent  years. 

We  have  noted  the  enormous  revenues  which 
the  Erie  Canal  paid  into  the  State  treasury. 
More  important  still,  it  was  the  chief,  if  not 
indispensable,  factor  in  building  up  a  chain  of 
towns  and  cities  along  the  routes,  which  make 
the  State  first  in  population,  and  also  in  foster- 
ing the  rapid  development  of  wealth,  placing  the 
State  in  the  lead  in  that  respect  among  the  com- 
monwealths of  the  Union.     It  was  the  channel 


84       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OP   THE   WORLD 

through  which  were  poured  the  raw  products  of 
the  west  into  the  archives  of  New  York;  and  in 
turn  finished  products  were  carried  to  western 
consumers,  until  New  York  City,  during  the 
period  1868-187 2,  enjoyed  56  per  cent  of  the  total 
export  trade  of  the  whole  country;  it  now  en- 
joys less  than  35  per  cent. 

In  1820  the  population  of  the  State  was 
1,373,000;  its  assessed  valuation  was  $256,000,000. 
The  present  population  is  nearly  10,000,000, 
and  the  assessed  valuation  is  about  $12,000,000,- 
000.  The  State  can  much  better  afford  to  spend 
$101,000,000  upon  the  canal  now  than  it  could 
$10,000,000  in  1820.  While  conditions  are  not 
in  the  least  similar,  the  State's  necessity  is  quite 
as  great. 

The  history  of  the  canals  bears  upon  the  ques- 
tion, recently  much  discussed,  of  public  owner- 
ship and  control  of  transportation  facilities. 
Here  was  a  great  and  beneficent  public  work, 
undertaken  for  the  advantage  of  all  the  people,  to 
provide  cheaper  transfers;  side  by  side  another 
form  of  transportation  was  developed  under  pri- 
vate auspices.  While  the  latter  was  year  by  year 
improved   to  meet   the  evergrowing  needs,   the 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     85 

former  was  permitted  to  degenerate.  Doubtless 
the  railway  interests  assisted  in  making  the  canal 
record  a  deplorable  one,  but  this  fact  merely  adds 
emphasis  to  the  opposition  to  pubhc  ownership. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  had  the  canal  system  been 
privately  owned  by  strong  interests,  it  would  not 
have  degenerated  as  it  did.  Pubhc  service,  unless 
under  continuous  stimulation,  does  not  yet  seem 
equal  to  the  task  unposed  by  such  undertakings. 
Much  remains  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  public 
service  reform  before  the  change  to  public  owner- 
ship and  operation  can  be  regarded  wise. 

The  canals  of  New  York  were  necessarily 
built  by  the  State.  The  undertaking  called  for 
too  vast  an  expenditure  to  be  within  the  means 
of  individual  or  corporate  enterprise,  owing  to 
the  comparative  poverty  of  our  newly  formed 
commonwealth  and  its  undeveloped  resources. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  the  most  important  instance 
of  government  ownership  of  a  public  utility  that 
we  have.  It  is  owned  and  managed  by  the 
State  upon  the  general  principle  upon  which 
municipal  and  government  ownership  advocates 
claim  that  all  public  utilities  should  be  owned 
and  controlled, — in  order  to  furnish  the  public 


86       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

good  service,  freed  from  the  control  and  manipu- 
lation of  the  avaricious. 

Recall  its  infinite  delays,  extravagance  and 
graft;  recall  its  most  unbusinesslike  management; 
no  improvement  in  capacity  for  the  past  47 
years,  notwithstanding  it  has  been  a  period  of 
phenomenal  development  and  prosperity;  and 
contrast  its  management  with  that  of  its  rivals, 
the  railroads,  as  to  roadbed  (prism),  rolling  stock 
(boats),  general  equipment,  general  manage- 
ment; and  surely  it  must  all  militate  against  the 
wisdom  and  efficiency  of  government  ownership 
and  control  in  all  cases  where  individual  enter- 
prise may  supply  the  need.  The  same  reflection 
compels  the  conclusion  that  the  present  plans 
for  improvement  and  development,  expensive 
though  they  be,  are  amply  justified,  and  that 
the  canals  should  in  future  be  managed  with 
the  solicitude  and  business  acumen  which  char- 
acterize individual  enterprise. 

With  proper  supervision  of  the  enormous  ex- 
penditure proposed,  with  an  effective  control  of 
the  management  to  the  end  that  the  enlarged 
canal  shall  furnish  the  service  contemplated 
and,  with  wise  economy  in  the  place  of  careless 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     87 

extravagance,  it  appears  entirely  safe  to  predict 
tiiat  the  State  will  receive,  in  increased  trade, 
profits  of  the  transport  lines  and  general  growth 
of  the  municipalities  along  the  line  of  operation, 
a  return  which  will  be  proportionately  as  great 
as  that  which  the  records  of  the  Erie  show  to 
have  been  realized  in  the  past  and  that  in  the  not 
distant  future  the  benefits  will  have  more  than 
offset  the  entire  expenditure. 

In  addition,  great  pecuniary  advantage  will 
accrue  to  the  producers  and  the  consumers,  not 
only  along  the  hne  of  the  canal,  but  throughout 
the  entire  State,  from  the  great  reduction  in  the 
transport  charges  that  must  inevitably  follow 
the  enlargement. 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK 

The  Competition  against  New  York  City 

The  importance  of  the  Erie  Canal  during  the 
period  of  its  greatest  efficiency,  to  the  commer- 
cial and  industrial  development  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  cannot  be  overestimated;  it  was  all- 
powerful  in  making  the  City  of  New  York  the 
/  chief  port  of  the  United  States  and  one  of  the 
greatest  ports  of  the  world. 

(See  Appendix.  Tables  14  and  15.) 
In  1880,  the  total  exports  of  the  United  States 
were  $835,638,758;  New  York  City's  proportion 
of  this  was  46.9  per  cent.  In  1890  the  total  ex- 
ports of  the  United  States  were  $857,828,684; 
the  amount  exported  through  the  Port  of  New 
York  was  40.6  per  cent.  In  1900,  New  York's 
percentage  had  fallen  to  37.2.  Ini9i3,  the  total 
exports  of  the  United  States  amounted  to  $2,465,- 
884,149,  $917,935,988  of  which  found  its  way 
abroad  through  the  Port  of  New  York,  it  being 
37.2  per  cent  of  the  total  amount. 

With    the    growth    and    development    of    the 

88 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     89 

country,  it  is  inevitable  that  New  York's  relative 
percentage  of  exports  and  imports  should  de- 
crease, and  that  although  the  gross  amount  may 
increase  from  year  to  year,  this  apparent  loss  in 
New  York's  share  should  accrue  to  the  advan- 
tage of  other  ports.  The  point  that  should  be 
impressed  upon  the  minds  of  those  who  are  re- 
sponsible for  New  York's  commercial  welfare  is 
that  New  York's  percentage  of  loss  has  been 
much  greater  than  it  would  have  been  had  an 
enlightened  and  progressive  policy  with  reference 
to  her  internal  navigation  kept  her  canals  and 
rivers  abreast  of  the  times  and  in  condition  to 
meet  the  growing  volume  of  trade. 

A  number  of  factors  have  combined  to  reduce 
the  percentage  of  New  York's  export  trade; 
unhke  many  of  her  rivals,  she  has  no  railroad 
interests  specially  devoted  to  her  cause  in  the 
struggle  for  trafhc.  The  New  York  Central 
Railroad,  through  its  control  of  lines  to  Boston, 
derives  just  as  much,  if  not  more,  advantage  in 
carrying  freight  to  the  New  England  port;  the 
other  trunk  lines  entering  from  the  south  stop  at, 
or  pass  through,  rival  seaboard  terminals  before 
reaching  New  York. 


go       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE  WORLD 

A  complex  system  of  '^differentials"  in  through 
rates  by  rail  from  interior  points  to  the  seaboard 
discriminates  against  New  York.  The  purpose 
of  this  system  is  to  place  all  Atlantic  seaboard 
points  upon  an  equaUty,  by  off-setting  in  trans- 
portation charges  the  assumed  advantages  pos- 
sessed by  New  York,  both  in  the  matter  of  easier 
transportation,  due  to  better  gradients  of  her 
railways  through  the  Mohawk  Valley,  and  the 
somewhat  lower  ocean  freights  due  to  the  greater 
competition  among  foreign  carriers  who,  lured 
by  the  volume  of  trade,  came  to  New  York  in 
greater  numbers.  Thus  by  agreement  between 
the  trunk  lines,  Boston,  although  50  miles  farther 
from  Chicago,  by  the  shortest  route,  obtains  the 
same  rate  as  New  York.  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, and  Newport  News,  all  nearer  the  west 
than  New  York,  were  accorded  lower  rates  by 
reason  of  the  shorter  haul.  Recent  alterations 
in  the  schedule  have  reduced  the  differentials 
somewhat,  but  the  ports  to  the  south  have  still  a 
substantial  advantage  in  respect  to  rates. 

On  the  other  hand.  New  York's  insular  posi- 
tion compels  the  imposition  of  lighterage  charges 
for  the  transshipment  of  freight  from  railway 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     QI 

cars  to  ocean  steamers;  competing  ports  avoid 
this  charge,  because  freight  is  transferred  from 
terminal  tracks  direct  to  the  ocean  carriers.  A 
further  impost  is  laid  upon  New  York's  foreign 
trade  by  her  very  high  port  charges,  explained, 
perhaps,  but  by  no  means  justified,  by  her  very 
inadequate  dock  facihties.  The  crowded  condi- 
tion of  the  wharves  and  the  channels  of  ingress 
and  egress  therefrom,  and  the  narrow  thorough- 
fares occupied  so  fully  by  other  interests,  neces- 
sarily impede  traffic  and  render  the  same  more 
expensive. 

But  the  deterioration  of  the  canal  service,  or, 
more  properly  speaking,  the  failure  to  maintain 
and  develop  it,  to  keep  pace  with  the  advanc- 
ing needs  of  trade,  are  mainly  responsible  for 
the  very  large  relative  falling  off  of  New  York's 
foreign  trade,  especially  as  to  exports.  The 
enormous  export  grain  traffic  coming  through 
the  Great  Lakes  demands  cheaper  handling  than 
the  present  means  available  to  New  York  afford. 
Transshipment  from  lake  steamers  at  Buffalo, 
and  forwarding  by  rail  to  the  metropolis,  in- 
volves a  charge  of  ^4  per  bushel.  By  canal  the 
charge  is  substantially  the  same.    The  Canadian 


92       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

route,  via  the  Welland  Canal,  Lake  Ontario, 
and  the  now  efficiently  canalized  St.  Lawrence 
River,  affords  a  transfer  at  so  much  lower  rates, 
that  the  estimated  cost  of  conveying  a  bushel 
of  grain  from  Duluth,  or  other  primary  lake 
points,  to  Montreal,  where  transatlantic  steamers 
take  the  cargo,  is  only  si- 
Freight  has  no  consideration  of  patriotism; 
obedient  to  imperious  economic  law,  it  will  move 
along  the  line  of  least  expense.  The  St.  Law- 
rence route,  completed,  as  to  the  latest  improve- 
ments, in  1900,  is  now  by  far  the  shortest  and 
cheapest,  and  Montreal  and  the  Dominion  are 
profiting  from  the  large  but  judicious  outlays  of 
pubUc  money  upon  this  waterway.  Unless  the 
rivalry  is  adequately  met,  it  is  only  a  question  of 
time  when  the  bulk  of  the  enormous  trade  of 
the  rapidly  developing  northwest,  will  reach  the 
markets  of  the  world  through  the  Dominion 
route,  whether  originating  in  the  Dominion  or 
in  the  United  States. 

The  freight  which  passes  through  the  two 
canals  (American  and  Canadian)  at  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  reached  an  aggregate  of  over  79,000,000 
tons  in  191 3,  an  increase  of  over  26,000,000  tons 


THE   CANAL   SYSTEM   OF   NEW   YORK  93 

in  two  years.  The  capacity  of  the  vessels  en- 
gaged in  lake  traffic  and  utilizing  these  canals 
has  been  enlarged  almost  annually.  To  meet 
these  developments  the  Canadian  government 
improved  its  great  waterway  to  the  seaboard, 
so  as  to  admit  the  passage  of  vessels  of  2,200 
tons  burthen.  The  capacity  of  the  locks  of  the 
Canadian  canals  is  more  than  twice  that  of  the 
locks  of  the  Erie.  Canada  is  thus  able  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  fact  that  the  route  from  Chicago  or 
Duluth  to  Liverpool,  via  Montreal,  is  450  miles 
shorter  than  via  New  York.  Following  this 
expenditure  of  many  millions,  further  improve- 
ments are  now  contemplated  in  order  to  enlarge 
the  facilities  and  diminish  the  obstacles  and 
expense  still  more.  For  a  decade  past,  another 
and  still  shorter  route  has  been  under  considera- 
tion from  Georgian  Bay  to  Montreal  via  the 
Ottawa  River. 

The  Montreal,  Ottawa  and  Georgian  Bay 
Canal  is  still  a  project,  but  it  has  behind  it, 
apparently,  the  settled  policy  of  the  Canadian 
government  and  will  rank  with  the  Panama  and 
Barge  Canal  works  in  magnitude.  The  canal 
as  recommended  by  the  engineers,  would  be  440 


94       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

miles  long,  extending  from  Montreal  to  Georgian 
Bay,  overcoming  by  27  locks  a  summit  level  of 
659  feet  and  requiring  also  the  building  of  18 
main  dams.  It  will  have  a  bottom  width  of  200 
feet  and  a  standard  depth  of  24  feet.  It  would 
make  a  waterway  for  vessels  600  feet  long,  60 
feet  beam  and  20  feet  draught.  The  route  in- 
cludes fully  400  miles  of  sheltered  lake  and  river, 
susceptible  of  economical  improvement.  Of  the 
40  miles  of  actual  canal  required,  nearly  one- 
half,  in  the  vicinity  of  Montreal,  already  exists 
but  would,  of  course,  require  deepening  and 
enlargement.  This  route  will  save  approximately 
340  miles  of  navigation  as  compared  with  the 
route  via  the  Lakes  and  St.  Lawrence  River,  and 
will  make  the  distance  from  Chicago  or  Duluth 
to  Liverpool,  via  the  proposed  canal,  approxi- 
mately 800  miles  shorter  than  via  New  York. 

The  Chicago  Harbor  Commission,  in  its  report 
of  1909,  said  of  the  Georgian  Bay  project: 


"This  scheme  is  of  the  greatest  significance  to  Chi- 
cago, for  it  would  give  Chicago  practically  a  great  circle 
route  to  Liverpool  and  other  ports  of  northeast  Europe, 
saving  774  miles  over  the  present  journey  by  way  of 
New  York." 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     95 

These  are  the  competitive  factors  which  New 
York  proposes  to  meet  by  the  enlargement  of 
the  Erie  canal;  it  is  the  sole  remaining  resource. 
Only  recently  a  number  of  large  freighters  of 
transatlantic  hnes  operating  from  New  York 
were  for  a  time  taken  off  from  service;  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  ocean-carrying  companies  pro- 
tested to  the  railway  companies  against  their 
scale  of  charges  upon  grain,  which  they  assert 
make  the  transportation  cost  to  Europe  via  New 
York  prohibitive,  as  compared  with  the  Mon- 
treal route.  But  the  railways  have  troubles  of 
their  own,  and  are  struggling  with  serious  prob- 
lems which  apparently  preclude  their  reducing 
these  charges.  The  canal  is  the  only  means  in 
sight  to  stay  the  further  decline  of  the  com- 
merce of  the  Port  of  New  York. 

The  trunk  lines  terminating  at  the  seaboard 
have  by  agreed  differentials  bargained  away  all 
of  New  York's  natural  advantages  of  gradient. 
As  to  such  differentials,  there  is  force  in  the 
claim  that  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  should  be 
allowed  to  charge  less  for  freight,  from  the  in- 
terior to  Philadelphia,  than  they  charge  for  haul- 
ing similar  freight  through  Philadelphia  on  to 


96       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

New  York,  an  added  distance  of  90  miles.  The 
differential  to  Baltimore  is  based  upon  similar 
reasoning,  but  Boston,  50  miles  farther  from  the 
interior  than  New  York,  is  given  the  same  rate 
as  New  York.  The  crucial  facts  of  present  ex- 
perience prove  that  the  railroads  cannot  main- 
tain the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  in  com- 
petition with  Canadian  waterways.  It  is  no 
longer  a  question  of  competition  between  rail 
and  water — the  question  is,  Can  the  canahzation 
of  our  water  routes  so  supplement  the  railroads 
that,  working  together,  they  can  retain  for  the 
United  States  the  foreign  commerce  to  which  it 
is  normally  entitled? 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK 

Barge  Canal  Improvements 

The  Erie,  Oswego,  Champlain  and  Cayuga  and 
Seneca  Canals  are  now  being  enlarged  to  a  depth 
of  12  feet,  with  57  locks  (one  of  which — a  siphon 
lock — will  be  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  world) 
of  a  size  sufficient  for  boats  having  2,000  to 
2,500  tons  capacity,  as  compared  with  240  ton 
boats  under  present  conditions.  The  State  of 
New  York  has  voted  to  expend  $128,000,000  on 
this  enlargement,  of  which  $19,000,000  is  desig- 
nated for  providing  terminals  in  and  about  50 
cites  and  villages.  Construction  was  begun  in 
1905. 

The  State  Engineer,  John  A.  Bensel,  writing 
under  date  of  July  28,  19 14,  says: 

*'The  amount  of  work  placed  under  contract  (June  i, 
1914)  is,  in  round  numbers,  $85,000,000,  and  the  amount 
of  work  performed  to  June  ist  is,  in  round  numbers, 
$69,000,000,  these  figures  embracing  the  work  on  all  the 
canals  of  the  State  exclusive  of  the  construction  of  the 
Barge  Canal  terminals.     Payments  have  been  made  on 

97 


95       ARTLFIGIAL  WATERWAYS   OE   THE   WORLD 

account  of  all  expenses  incurred  in  connection  with  the 
Barge  Canal  Improvements  to  July  ist,  in  an  amount  of 
$87,805,000,  this  figure  not  including  about  $3,000,000 
earned  by  the  contractors,  but  held  by  the  State  as 
retained  percentages. 

It  is  difficult  to  make  a  deduction  from  the  above 
figures  relative  to  the  percentage  of  work  remaining 
unfinished,  but  a  general  statement  of  the  status  of  the 
work  is  as  follows: 

In  all  probability  the  entire  Champlain  Canal  and  that 
portion  of  the  Erie  Canal  from  Waterford  to  Three  River 
Point,  the  junction  of  the  Erie  and  Oswego  canals,  and  the 
entire  Oswego  Canal  between  this  point  and  Lake  Ontario 
will  be  completed  during  the  season  of  191 5,  as  wdll 
also  the  Cayuga-Seneca  Canal  improved,  and  the  canal 
from  the  point  of  junction  of  the  Cayuga-Seneca  Canal 
and  the  Erie  Canal  to  Three  River  Point,  making  pos- 
sible the  utilization  of  the  Barge  Canal  between  Lake 
Ontario  and  the  Cayuga  and  Seneca  lakes. 

The  opening  of  the  Champlain  Canal  and  the  Erie 
Canal  for  through  traffic  via  Hudson  River,  will  be  de- 
pendent upon  the  progress  made  by  the  Federal  govern- 
ment in  constructing  their  dam  and  lock  in  the  Hudson 
River  at  Troy. 

Between  Rochester  and  Tonawanda  practically  the 
entire  section  of  the  canal  has  been  improved  to  Barge 
Canal  dimensions,  there  remaining  to  be  performed 
between  Rochester  and  the  Niagara  River  but  a  small 
amount  of  work  at  the  Tonawanda  entrance,  and  certain 
incidental  details  along  this  section  which  would  not 
interfere  with  its  being  open  for  navigation  as  soon  as 
the  connection  is  made  at  Tonawanda. 

Due  to  complications  encountered  between  Clyde  and 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK     99 

Rochester  at  points  where  the  line  of  the  canal  is  crossed 
by  the  lines  of  the  different  railroads,  the  Barge  Canal 
work  has  been  materially  delayed  and  it  is  not  possible 
at  this  time  to  state  how  soon  all  of  these  railroad  cross- 
ings will  be  disposed  of,  the  courts  having  only  recently 
made  a  decision  which  will  act  as  a  guide  in  their  con- 
struction. 

The  Barge  Canal  between  Northumberland  northerly 
to  Whitehall  is  being  operated  this  year  in  connection 
with  the  canal  system  of  the  State,  this  section  having 
been  completed  in  its  entirety.  There  are  also  several 
other  sections  of  the  canal  in  addition  to  the  stretch 
between  Rochester  and  Tonawanda,  which  are  com- 
pleted to  Barge  Canal  dimensions,  but  which  cannot 
be  utilized  at  this  time  by  reason  of  the  interference  with 
navigation  on  the  present  canal,  or  by  reason  of  adjoin- 
ing work  not  being  completed,  the  total  length  of  com- 
pleted Barge  Canal  prism  being  about  350  miles. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  status  of  the  Barge 
Canal  work  is  considered  very  satisfactory  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  navigation  season  of  1916  should  see 
the  greater  portion  of  the  Barge  Canal  system  com- 
pleted and  in  readiness  for  operation." 

The  State  Engineer  has  kindly  given  his  best 
estimate  of  when  the  canal  will  be  completed. 
It  appears  that  about  15  per  cent  of  the  work  is 
not  yet  under  contract.  It  is  nine  years  since  the 
work  was  undertaken,  and  two  or  three  years 
more  must  elapse  before  the  canal  will  be  com- 
pleted, f 


lOO    ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

One  of  the  strong  hopes  that  inspired  the 
Barge  Canal  was  the  expectation  of  regaining 
for  New  York  the  export  grain  trade,  with  the 
reciprocal  business  that  such  trade  would  natur- 
ally bring.  The  growth  of  our  population  has 
shattered  that  hope,  for  it  is  likely  in  future  that 
we  will  consume,  at  home,  practically  all  the 
grain  we  raise.  Our  enlarged  waterway  must  and 
will  find  other  means  of  justifying  its  existence. 

Canals  have  proven  their  utility  as  carriers  of 
freight,  and  in  equal  degree  have  they  served 
the  public  as  competitive  regulators  of  transporta- 
tion rates  by  rail.  We  have  already  seen  that  all 
railroad  rates  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  and 
north  of  the  Ohio  are  predicated  upon  the  all- 
water  rate  from  Chicago  to  New  York;  thus 
every  shipper  east  of  the  Mississippi  is  served 
by  and  indebted  to  the  Erie  Canal. 

The  Barge  Canal  will  fail  to  move  grain  to 
any  great  extent  from  Buffalo  to  the  seaboard, 
but  its  capacity  will  be  utiHzed  nevertheless. 
It  will  have  great  advantage  in  moving  freight, 
seeking  transportation  in  large  units,  especially 
such  as  is  bulky  in  character  and  admits  of 
slower  delivery.     For  illustration,  lumber,  forest 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  ■  OF"  l^W  YO'RE:  IOI 

products,  require  several  months  after  manufac- 
ture in  which  to  season  and  be  ready  for  use; 
manifestly,  lumber  or  timber  suffers  little  from 
slower  transportation;  also  the  heavier  forms  of 
retail  hardware,  machines  and  machinery  of 
standard  character,  which  retailers  keep  in  stock; 
raw  material,  cotton,  wool,  hemp,  jute,  grain  for 
milling,  building  materials,  cement,  brick;  no 
better  site  for  a  great  steel  plant,  than  the  Port 
of  New  York,  can  be  conceived,  with  the  ore, 
coke  and  coal  of  the  west  brought  within  easy 
access  at  very  low  cost;  as  a  distributing  point 
New  York  is  unsurpassed.  This  enlarged  canal 
must  give  an  impetus  to  manufacturing  of  all 
kinds  along  its  entire  route  from  New  York  to 
Buffalo. 


THE  CANAL  SYSTEM  OF  NEW  YORK 

Relation  of  Canal  and  Railways 

I  HAVE  generally  made  use  of  grain  rates,  in 
comparing  different  periods  and  in  comparing 
water  and  rail  transportation,  because  they  have 
been  differentiated  in  official  reports,  and  be- 
cause economic  writers  have  made  greater  use  of 
the  same;  of  course  the  same  general  relation 
exists  with  reference  to  all  kinds  of  freight 
charges. 
9  The  Erie  Canal,  finished  in  1825,  gave  the 
greatest  impetus  to  inland  transportation,  which 
it  had  received  up  to  that  time,  and  a  boom  in 
the  building  of  canals  and  the  canalization  of 
lakes  and  rivers  ensued.  All  this  ante-dated 
the  existence  of  railways.  As  soon  as  railways 
came  into  general  use,  the  decadence  in  canal 
and  river  transportation  was  very  pronounced. 

In  1850  the  canals  of  New  York  carried  81.1 

per  cent  of  the  traffic  handled — 23  years  later  it 

had  fallen  to  a  Httle  less  than  35  per  cent,  and 

102 


THE   CANAL   SYSTEM   OE   NEW   YORK  IO3 

in  1908  the  canals  carried  less  than  4  per  cent 
of  the  total  traffic  handled  in  the  State. 

As  to  river  transportation,  St.  Louis  is  as  well 
situated  to  avail  of  this  means  of  transit  as  any 
city  in  the  country.  The  quantity  of  freight 
shipped  by  the  Mississippi  River,  from  St.  Louis, 
in  1880,  was  1,038,000  tons;  20  years  later  it  was 
245,800  tons;  in  191 1  it  was  191,965  tons.  In 
1 87 1,  44  per  cent  of  St.  Louis  freight  was  shipped 
by  the  Mississippi  River;  in  191 1  the  proportion 
had  fallen  to  one-half  of  one  per  cent.  The  rail- 
ways centering  in  St.  Louis  make  it  one  of  the 
great  reservoirs  of  trade,  and  the  rails  have  taken 
possession  of  the  business. 

The  reasons  why  traffic  went  to  the  railroads 
are  not  far  to  seek.  Among  them  may  be  men- 
tioned the  fact  of  greater  celerity  in  transporta- 
tion, which  means  quicker  delivery  and  quicker 
payments;  it  means  a  saving  of  interest,  a  more 
rapid  turnover  of  principal,  and  per  contra, 
similar  advantage  results  in  the  receipt  of  goods; 
railroads  give  service  all  the  year  round,  whereas 
the  principal  canals,  lakes  and  rivers  are  closed 
during  the  winter  months;  railways  are  equally 
available  to  inland  towns,  as  well  as  those  lo- 


I04    ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

cated  upon  water,  both  for  receiving  and  deliver- 
ing freight;  the  custom  of  travel  and  retail  trade 
takes  people  naturally  to  railway  stations  in 
much  greater  degree  than  to  water  stations;  the 
availability  of  an  everyday  supply  by  rail  en- 
ables retail  dealers  to  supply  their  customers 
with  a  much  smaller  but  constantly  recruited 
stock  of  goods;  they  thus  minimize  their  capital 
investment;  freight  by  rail  is  handled  with 
greater  ease;  switches  bring  cars  to  the  door  of 
the  factory  or  warehouse;  permanent  machinery 
may  be  provided  for  loading  and  unloading. 
Waterways  cannot  provide  switches,  and  the 
ever-varying  water  level  precludes  the  use  of 
permanent  machinery  for  loading  and  unloading. 
The  variation  of  the  surface  level  of  the  Ohio 
River  at  Cincinnati  is  60  feet;  of  the  Mississippi, 
at  St.  Louis,  it  is  43.92  feet,  and  at  New  Orleans 
it  is  21.02  feet. 

In  regular  course  of  competition  the  railroads 
made  discriminatory,  all-the-year  contracts,  thus 
penahzing  those  who  used  canals  in  summer  and 
rails  in  winter;  such  a  practice  was  made  unlaw- 
ful at  a  comparatively  recent  period;  railroads 
were    privately    owned    and    their    growth    was 


THE   CANAL   SYSTEM   OF   NEW   YORK  105 

stimulated  by  all  the  energy  of  private  enterprise; 
inventive  genius  perfected  machinery  and  de- 
vices; experience  pointed  the  better  methods  and 
gave  a  constantly  improving  service  to  the  pub- 
lic; capital  in  unstinted  volume  fostered  exten- 
sion of  lines  and  expansion  of  affiliated  and  re- 
ciprocal interests,  which  brought  and  bound 
traffic  to  the  roads. 

On  the  other  hand,  inland  water  transporta- 
tion, with  few  exceptions,  was  government 
owned  or  controlled,  and  suffered  the  blight  that 
seems  to  be  inseparable  from  political  domina- 
tion. No  self  interest  prompted  brain-racking 
study  to  improve  method  and  machinery,  to 
facilitate  service  and  adapt  the  same  to  the 
wants  of  shippers.  Economy,  very  often  false 
economy,  and  railway  rivalry  conspired,  fre- 
quently, to  embarrass,  if  not  cripple,  these  public 
channels  of  trade.  The  decadence  of  inland 
water  transportation,  in  respect  to  capacity  of 
prism,  means  of  locomotion,  size  and  quality  of 
boat,  contrast  painfully  with  the  phenomenal 
development  of  the  railways  in  all  respects. 

We  have  had  the  usual  experience  of  all  new 
countries  lavishly  endowed  by  nature  with  rich 


Io6    ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE  WORLD 

stores  of  latent  wealth.  We  have  had  a  sat- 
urnalia of  waste,  in  a  mad  effort  to  bring  all 
latent  resources  into  market  at  once.  The  crime 
of  the  age  consists  in  the  effort  to  convert  real 
estate,  field  and  factory,  forest  and  mine,  into 
personal  property  by  the  fiction  of  corporation 
stocks  and  bonds,  anticipate  the  future  in  the 
amount  of  capitaHzation  and  then  sell  the  same 
to  a  hopeful  and  optimistic  public  with  patriotic 
confidence  in  the  future  of  our  glorious  country. 
But  fortunately  the  turn  has  been  called,  con- 
servation has  succeeded  wanton  waste;  with  the 
legislative,  the  executive  and  private  owner  as 
well,  conservation  has  become  the  guiding  prin- 
ciple. With  this  change  from  hectic  haste  to  a 
sobered  and  sagacious  business  policy,  from  mad 
exploitation  to  wise  utility,  will  come  a  growing 
use  for  canals  and  rivers;  deliberate  economy 
in  preserving  nature's  resources  will  make  use 
of  nature's  improved  and  corrected  means  of 
transportation. 

The  Barge  Canal  will  move  freight  in  summer, 
and  warehouse  it  in  winter  in  the  harbor  of  New 
York,  in  fleets  of  barges,  the  same  as  the  old 
canal  has  done  in  the  past,  but  on  a  grander  scale. 


THE   CANAL   SYSTEM   OF   NEW  YORK  I07 

The  New  Barge  Canal  will  have  a  greatly  en- 
larged capacity  over  the  present  canals,  which 
reached  their  highest  efficiency  in  1872,  when 
6,673,370  tons  were  moved,  and  which  in  1913 
carried  only  2,602,035  tons.  The  Barge  Canal 
Terminal  Commission  in  its  report  of  191 1, 
estimated  that  the  Barge  Canal  would  carry 
10,000,000  tons  soon  after  completion  and  that 
this  amount  could  be  increased  to  20,000,000 
tons. 

The  Commission  reported  that  the  average 
cost  of  carrying  freight  upon  the  railroads  of 
New  York  is  .445  of  a  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  and 
as  the  distance  by  rail  from  Buffalo  to  New 
York  (New  York  Central)  is  440  miles,  the  cost 
of  a  ton  of  freight  is  $1.96,  the  rate  charged  being 
$3.11.  The  Commission  estimates  that  the  cost 
to  carry  the  same  freight  from  Buffalo  to  New 
York  by  Barge  Canal  and  river  will  be  only  26 
cents.  If  this  assumption  is  right,  the  canal  will 
soon  pay  for  itself  as  an  economic  proposition, 
provided  the  other  costs  of  transportation,  such 
as  terminal  charges,  expenses  of  transshipment, 
etc.,  do  not  equalize  the  difference. 

The  new  Barge  Canal,  unlike  the  old  canals. 


Io8     ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

which  it  will  displace,  is  largely  a  river  canali- 
zation scheme,  following  mostly  natural  water 
courses.  There  are  440  miles  of  construction  in 
the  new  canal  project,  which,  with  350  miles  of 
intervening  lakes  and  rivers  make  a  system  for 
the  four  canals  under  enlargement,  of  790  miles. 
It  is  computed  that  73  J^  per  cent  of  the  State's 
population  is  within  two  miles  of  this  waterway 
system. 


THE  PANAMA  CANAL 

No  discussion  of  the  influence  of  artificial 
waterways  upon  the  economic  future  of  the  world 
would  be  complete  without  description  of  the 
gigantic  undertaking  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States  to  complete  the  abandoned  French 
enterprise  of  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans  at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 

The  advantage  of  such  a  canal  was  clearly 
perceived  as  early  as  1520,  when  Charles  V  of 
Spain  is  reported  to  have  given  it  consideration. 
In  1534  a  survey  was  ordered,  but  unfavorable 
reports  of  the  Spanish  governor  of  Panama,  and 
probably  also  his  suggestion  that  such  a  work 
would  be  in  ^^  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  Al- 
mighty, who  had  placed  this  barrier  in  the  way 
of  navigation  between  the  two  oceans,"  caused 
the  project  to  be  abandoned;^  although  the  project 
was  revived  at  later  periods,  it  never  took  prac- 
tical form  until  about   1878,   when  French  in- 

^  The  medieval  religious  fervor  that  dominated  the  action  of 
Spain  in  all  things,  seems  ludicrous  in  the  light  of  present 
day  advancement. 

109 


no       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

terests  obtained  a  concession  from  the  republic 
of  Columbia.  De  Lesseps,  who  had  built  the 
Suez  Canal,  was  the  chief  spirit  in  the  enterprise 
undertaken  by  a  French  corporation  formed  in 
1879. 

Improvident  expenditure  of  money,  manipula- 
tion of  the  company's  stock  in  the  interest  of 
stock-jobbing  ventures,  graft,  which  was  alleged 
to  impKcate  those  high  in  authority,  technical 
errors  and  faulty  management  generally,  brought 
the  company  to  bankruptcy  in  six  years.  De 
Lesseps  struggled  manfully  to  advance  the  work; 
he  unwisely  submitted  to  blackmail  and  coun- 
tenanced actions  that  he  should  have  resisted  to 
the  utmost,  thereby  clouding  a  glorious  reputa- 
tion, in  order  to  consummate  the  enterprise,  all 
of  which,  however,  simply  hastened  its  failure. 

Actual  operations  were  delayed  until  1883; 
then  the  concession  expired,  and  it  was  only 
after  much  delay  that  a  renewal  was  obtained, 
under  which  a  new  company  was  organized  in 
1894.  The  plans  of  this  corporation  also  proved 
unsuccessful,  and  work  was  practically  aban- 
doned. The  concession  was  for  ten  years,  thus 
expiring  in  1904;  another  grant  from  Colombia 


THE   PANAMA   CANAL  III 

was  obtained,  with  a  condition  that  the  canal 
should  be  completed  by  1910. 

Private  interests  in  the  United  States  had  ob- 
tained a  concession  for  an  inter-oceanic  canal 
traversing  Nicaragua.  If  a  lock  canal  was  to 
be  built  the  Nicaragua  route  was  generally 
believed  to  be  the  best — a  sea-level  canal  over 
that  route  was  impossible.  Much  money  was 
raised  and  expended  upon  this  route,  but  it  was 
easily  apparent  that  the  enterprise  was  too  great 
for  private  capital.  In  June,  1902,  Congress 
passed  an  act,  under  which  the  government  was 
to  undertake  the  construction  of  an  isthmian 
waterway.  In  order  to  prevent  the  possibility 
of  having  two  canals,  it  was  decided  to  adopt 
the  Panama  route,  provided  the  French  interests 
could  be  acquired  and  the  work  they  had  done 
thus  be  utilized  and  at  the  same  time  a  satisfac- 
tory treaty  could  be  made  with  the  government 
of  Colombia.  President  Roosevelt  negotiated  a 
treaty  with  the  Colombian  government.  I  quote 
Mr.  Roosevelt's  words: 

"The  then  Colombian  government  was  embodied  in 
the  person  of  a  single  man,  a  dictator,  with  absolute 
executive  and  legislative  powers.     He  had  been  elected 


112    ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF  THE   WORLD 

vice  president,  and  after  a  short  time  seized  the  presi- 
dent and  put  him  in  jail.  He  then  pubHshed  an  edict, 
saying  that  under  the  constitution,  for  he  was  an  ardent 
adherent  to  the  letter  of  the  constitution,  it  was  his 
right  to  assume  all  executive  powers  in  the  absence  of 
the  president.  He  refused  to  permit  Congress  to  as- 
semble. He  then  published  another  edict,  reciting  that 
under  the  constitution  it  was  his  right  to  assume  all  the 
legislative  powers  in  the  absence  of  Congress.  The 
absence  of  the  president  soon  became  permanent,  as  he 
died  in  jail.  Year  after  year  went  by,  and  still  no  Con- 
gress was  allowed  to  meet,"  etc.,  etc. 

With  this  Colombian  government  a  treaty  was 
made,  acquiring  the  right  to  build  and  own  the 
canal,  with  a  canal  zone  extending  5  miles  on 
either  side  of  the  canal.  Colombia  was  to  re- 
ceive $10,000,000,  and  after  nine  years  an  annual 
stipend  of  $250,000.  For  the  rights  and  property 
of  the  French  company  the  United  States  paid 
$40,000,000;  this  included  the  Panama  Railway, 
which  the  French  company  had  acquired  and 
owned.  The  United  States  had  abandoned  their 
negotiations  with  Nicaragua,  had  entered  into  this 
Colombian  treaty  and  had  agreed  upon  terms 
for  the  purchase  of  the  French  interests.  At 
this  juncture,  the  president  of  Colombia  con- 
vened his  Congress,  had  them  reject  the  treaty 


THE   PANAMA   CANAL  II3 

and  adjourn,  thereby  thinking  to  place  himself 
in  position  to  negotiate  a  better  trade  with  the 
United  States.  It  seemed  that  the  fate  of  the 
canal  was  again  subject  to  the  interminable 
delays  that  characterize  the  action  of  Central 
American  governments. 

The  State  of  Panama,  which  naturally  was 
most  interested  in  the  canal,  concluded  to  secede 
from  the  federal  RepubKc  of  Colombia,  and  take 
matters  in  its  own  hands. 

This  happened  in  November,  1903.  The  new 
government  was  immediately  recognized  by  the 
United  States,  and  a  similar  treaty  negotiated 
with  Panama,  to  the  one  made  with  Colombia. 
For  the  exclusive  ownership  and  control  of  a  strip 
of  territory  of  five  miles  on  each  side  of  the  pro- 
posed canal,  the  new  repubhc  of  Panama  re- 
ceived $10,000,000.  (After  nine  years  there 
is  also  to  be  paid  an  annual  stipend  of  $250,000.) 

The  United  States  entered  into  immediate 
possession  of  the  canal  zone,  and  any  attempt  to 
suppress  the  secession  of  Panama  by  Colombia 
would  have  brought  Colombian  troops  in  direct 
conflict  with  United  States  blue  jackets.  Of 
course  no  attempt  was  made.    The  very  prompt, 


114     ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

not  to  say  summary,  action  of  our  government, 
has  been  much  criticised.  Had  the  government 
of  Colombia  been  a  representative  one,  and  the 
treaty  been  rejected  in  due  course  of  prescribed 
action,  for  reasons  of  disagreement,  such  criti- 
cism would  possess  great  force,  but  the  man 
who  possessed  absolute  power  in  Colombia  made 
the  treaty  and  procured  its  rejection,  in  order 
as  Mr.  Roosevelt  charges  and  as  seems  most 
probable,  to  enable  him  to  drive  a  better  bargain, 
or  as  some  surmise,  to  enable  him  to  confiscate 
the  French  claims  and  realize  whatever  value 
they  might  possess.  The  world  wanted  the 
canal;  the  United  States  was  ready  to  build  it, 
and  to  have  this  great  enterprise  frustrated  by 
the  petty  bickerings  of  this  self-constituted  dic- 
tator, was  intolerable.  The  conscience  of  the 
world  and  the  verdict  of  history  will  not  only 
justify  but  applaud  the  action  of  our  government 
in  the  course  it  pursued. 

After  much  discussion  and  consultation  with 
leading  engineers,  not  only  from  our  own  coun- 
try, but  from  Europe  as  well,  it  was'  decided  to 
abandon  the  sea-level  canal,  for  which  the  De 
Lesseps  company  was  working,  and  adopt  a  lock 


THE   PANAMA   CANAL  II5 

canal.  The  engineers  were  divided  as  to  the 
relative  feasibility  and  desirability  of  a  sea-level 
or  lock  canal,  but  all  agreed  that  the  lock  canal 
would  be  much  cheaper.  The  engineer's  esti- 
mates of  total  cost  varied  from  $140,000,000  to 
$200,000,000;  the  fact  that  the  larger  estimate 
was  nearly  doubled  shows  how  unrehable  esti- 
mates of  cost  of  such  a  gigantic  and  unprece- 
dented work  must  necessarily  be. 
The  following  succinct  data  will  be  of  interest: 
Built  and  owned  by  the  United  States.  Ship 
canal.  Lock  type.  Connects  Caribbean  Sea 
with  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Summit  elevation  (about) 85  feet 

Length  from  deep  water  to  deep  water 50  miles 

Length  from  shore  line  to  shore  hne 40  miles 

Bottom  width 300  to  i  ,000  feet 

Minimum  depth 41  feet 

Locks  in  pairs 12  feet 

Gatun  Lake  area 164  sq.  miles 

Gatun  Dam  i>^  miles  long,  nearly  y^  mile  wide  at  its 
base,  with  crest  elevation  of  105  feet  above  the  sea. 

Culebra  Cut,  channel  depth 45  feet 

Excavation,  canal  proper 209,668,000  cubic  yards 

Excavation,   permanent  structures,   including  ter- 
minals     22,685,000  cubic  yards 

Excavation  by  French  company,  useful  to  present 

canal 29,908,000  cubic  yards 

Concrete  for  canal 5,208,000  cubic  yards 

Time  for  transit  through  canal 10  to  12  hours 

Canal  Zone  area = 436  sq.  miles 


Il6       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OE   THE   WORLD 

Total  force  at  work  on  canal  and  railroad  in  Septem- 
ber, 1913 37,000 

There  are  22  angles  with  total  curvature  of 600°     1' 

Ships  in  passing  through  the  canal  are  towed  by- 
electric  locomotives  operating  on  tracks  on  the 
lock  walls. 


Work  was  begun  by  the  United  States  on 
May  4,  1904,  and  ships  of  not  over  30  feet 
draught  passed  through  the  canal  in  1914;  offi- 
cial opening  in  March,  191 5. 

The  canal  cost  to  the  United  States  is  $375,- 
000,000,  including  $40,000,000  paid  to  the  French 
company  for  its  rights  and  properties  and 
$10,000,000  to  Panama;  $20,053,000  the  expense 
of  sanitation  and  $7,382,000  paid  for  civil  ad- 
ministration. Interest  on  this  sum  will  be 
$11,250,000  annually,  the  operating  and  mainte- 
nance expenses  are  estimated  at  $3,500,000; 
$500,000  will  be  required  for  sanitation  and 
government,  and  $250,000  is  to  be  paid  yearly 
to  the  Republic  of  Panama.  These  sums,  with 
amortization  fund,  will  make  the  annual  expense 
$19,250,000.  The  total  expenditures  of  the  Suez 
Canal  in  1913  amounted  to  45,981,079  francs, 
or  about  $9,200,000.  The  estimated  Panama 
Canal    traffic    in    191 5    is    10,500,000    tons    net 


THE   PANAMA   CANAL  II7 

register  of  shipping,  and  it  is  estimated  that  this 
will  increase  to  17,000,000  tons  by  1925.  Under 
the  Panama  Canal  Act,  approved  August  24, 
191 2,  the  tolls  on  the  canal  will  be  $1.20  per  net 
vessel  ton;  vessels  in  ballast  without  passengers 
or  cargo  paying  40  per  cent  less.  Naval  vessels 
pay  50  cents  per  displacement  ton;  and  naval 
transports,  colliers,  hospital  and  supply  ships, 
$1.20  per  net  ton.  The  provision  of  the  Act 
exempting  American  coastwise  ships  from  pay- 
ing tolls  was  repealed  in  1914. 

The  Canal  was  opened  to  commerce  August  15, 
1 9 14.  (See  Appendix,  Table  16,  distances  saved 
by  the  Panama  Canal.)  The  depth  of  the  Pan- 
ama Canal  is  41  feet;  Suez,  32.9  feet  (with  depth 
of  36.1  feet  planned);  Kiel,  36  feet;  Manchester, 
28  feet;  Amsterdam,  32.1  feet;  Cape  Cod,  25 
feet;  Ambrose  Channel  (N.  Y.)  40  feet. 

The  facihties  of  the  Canal  will  bring  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River  in  touch  with  the  teeming  peoples  of  Asia, 
numbering  fully  750  million  souls,  not  to  speak 
of  the  rapidly  growing  Australasian  common- 
wealths and  the  islands  of  the  sea. 

The  Pacific  ports  of  the  United  States  will  be 


Il8       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE  WORLD 

nearer  to  the  Atlantic  ports,  comparing  the  all- 
water  route  via  Cape  Horn,  by  nearly  8,000 
miles;  and  those  of  ChiH,  Peru,  etc.,  will  be 
brought  nearer  New  York  by  from  4,000  to 
6,000  miles.  Yokohama  and  Shanghai,  Manila 
and  Sidney,  will  be  also  from  4,000  to  8,000  miles 
nearer.  The  proximity  of  the  Gulf  ports  promises 
to  afford  the  Southern  States  of  the  Union  a 
great  opportunity  for  industrial  and  commercial 
development. 

The  cotton  and  cereals  going  to  Japan  and 
China  will  be  delivered  at  less  cost,  and  the  de- 
mand for  these  commodities  will  naturally  ex- 
pand. The  use  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tribu- 
taries will  be  almost  certainly  revived,  and  the 
Father  of  Waters  may  recover  its  former  com- 
mercial importance. 

Nor  will  the  advantage  accrue  entirely  to  the 
United  States;  for  although  the  difference  in 
distance  between  the  ports  of  western  Europe 
and  the  Orient,  via  Suez  and  via  Panama,  is  not 
substantially  important,  that  between  those 
ports  and  the  Pacific  ports  of  both  North  and 
South  America  and  points  in  Oceanica  will  be 
materially  shortened  by  the  Panama  waterway. 


THE   PANAMA   CANAL  II9 

Moreover,  by  a  competitive  toll  rate  via  Panama, 
a  considerable  part  of  the  Asiatic  traffic  will 
doubtless  be  diverted  from  Suez. 

While  the  Panama  waterway  is  to  be  neutral, 
that  is,  open  to  all  nations,  it  is  patent  that  its 
control  by  the  United  States  is  of  almost  incal- 
culable importance  in  the  event  of  war.  The 
experience  during  the  Spanish  War,  and  the 
more  recent  experimental  test  of  sending  a  full 
fleet  around  the  Horn,  are  circumstances  which 
clearly  show  the  strategic  importance  of  the 
short  waterway. 

Without  the  Panama  Canal  the  United  States, 
in  the  proper  defense  of  its  coast  line,  as  well  as 
the  enforcement  of  its  rights  and  protection  of  its 
commerce,  would  be  compelled  to  maintain  two 
first-class  navies — one  in  the  Atlantic  and  one 
in  the  Pacific — since,  in  the  event  of  war,  months 
must  elapse  ere  war  vessels  on  either  coast  could 
be  made  available  on  the  other.  The  lessened 
cost  of  naval  expenditure,  apart  from  the  ad- 
vantage to  commerce,  will  therefore  fully  justify 
the  expenditure  in  building  the  canal  by  the 
United  States. 

The  canal  is  now  in  operation;  it  is  idle  to 


I20       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

speculate  upon  its  future;  regular  reports  will 
give  us  facts  which  are  far  better  than  estimates. 
It  opens  with  all  Europe  involved  in  war  and 
the  trade  of  the  world  prostrate,  which  must  for 
a  time  prevent  a  normal  tonnage,  and  retard 
its  commercial  use,  but  peace  will  regain  its 
sway,  and  the  abundant  use  of  this  most  impor- 
tant canal  fully  justify  its  construction. 


ISTHMIAN]  CANAL  COMMISSION 
—  iUP  SHOU'INT. 

IbTHMl'S  WITH  rOMPLETEl)  tAXAL 


Si-AJLI- 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE. 


OTHER  GREAT  AMERICAN  CANALS 

Ambrose  Channel — New  York  Harbor 

This  is  practically  a  great  ship  canal  through 
the  Harbor  of  New  York,  permitting  entry  to 
the  largest  ocean  vessels  from  the  sea  to  the 
North  River  docks.  But  it  is  a  canal  without 
banks,  the  waters  of  the  channel  mingling  with 
the  waters  of  the  Bay  without  surface  demarca- 
tion. The  Channel  has  a  depth  of  40  feet  at 
mean  low  water  for  1,000  feet  width  over  the 
inner  half  and  1,750  to  1,900  feet  over  the  outer 
half.  It  is  easily  navigable  at  mean  low  water 
for  ships  of  37  feet  draught  going  at  moderate 
speed  and  has  a  maximum  high  water  capacity  of 
44  feet.  These  dimensions,  and  its  constant 
use,  make  it  one  of  the  most  important  water- 
ways in  the  world. 

Cape  Cod  Canal 

It  was  opened  July  29,  191 4,  built  by  private 

capital,  financed  by  August  Belmont,  and  con- 

121 


122       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

nects  Buzzard's  Bay  with  Barnstable  Bay,  thus 
obviating  the  passage  around  Cape  Cod.  It 
is  13  miles  long,  of  which  8  miles  is  the  cut 
through  the  land,  five  miles  constituting  the  ap- 
proaches or  channels  dug  in  the  waters  of  the 
United  States.  The  depth  of  the  land  cut  is 
25  feet  at  low  water;  it  is  100  feet  wide  at  bot- 
tom and  300  to  400  feet  wide  at  the  surface. 
The  channel  approaches  are  200  to  300  feet 
wide.  The  cost  was  $12,000,000.  The  canal 
shortens  by  70  miles  the  present  route  around 
Cape  Cod  and  avoids  its  dangerous  fogs.  The 
canal  is  large  enough  to  accommodate  all  craft 
up  to  23  feet  draught,  and  is  capable  of  enlarge- 
ment so  as  to  receive  the  largest  men-of-war. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  registered  tonnage  that 
has  rounded  the  Cape  is  25,000,000  tons  a  year. 
There  are  7,000,000  tons  of  coal  and  lumber 
carried  by  tows  and  sailing  craft,  and  4,500,000 
tons  of  coal  and  lumber  carried  by  steamers. 
It  is  expected  that  the  canal  will  obtain  this 
traffic,  which  will  make  it  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant waterways  in  the  world. 

Nineteen  fourteen  is  the  banner  year  in  canal 
construction.     The   Cape   Cod    Canal    and    the 


OTHER  GREAT  AMERICAN  CANALS     1 23 

Panama  Canal,  opened  in  July  and  August  re- 
spectively, are  an  unprecedented  contribution  to 
the  transportation  facilities  of  the  world. 

Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canals 

There  are  two  canals  for  the  passage  of  vessels 
around  the  rapids  of  St.  Mary's  River,  one 
owned  by  the  Canadian  government  (described 
under  the  head  of  Canadian  Canals)  and  the 
other  by  the  United  States.  The  American  canal 
is  2.7  miles  in  length,  25  feet  deep,  has  three 
locks  and  cost  $13,000,000.  It  was  first  opened 
to  navigation  in  1855. 

In  191 3  the  freight  carried  through  the  Cana- 
dian Canal  amounted  to  42,699,324  tons,  and 
through  the  American  Canal  to  37,022,201  tons. 
The  two  canals,  however,  should  be  treated  as 
one  as  regards  traffic;  and  their  combined  freight 
carried  in  1913  amounted  to  three  times  that 
passing  through  the  Suez  Canal,  although  the 
latter  is  open  the  whole  year  while  navigation  in 
these  American  canals  is  only  for  eight  months. 
The  total  Sault  Ste.  Marie  freight  tonnage 
in  1913  was  79,718,344  tons,  an  increase  since 
1904  of  48,172,238  tons.     The  traffic  has  there- 


124       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE  WORLD 

fore  more  than  doubled  in  ten  years.  In  1913, 
95  per  cent  of  this  traffic  was  carried  by  steam- 
ers. The  value  of  the  freight  transported  in 
that  year  amounted  to  the  enormous  sum  of 
$865,957,838. 

The    following   is    a    statement    of    the    total 
freight  carried  (short  tons)  in  the  past  ten  years: 


1913  79,721,525 

1912  72,472,676 

1911  53,477,216 

1910  62,363,218 

1909  57,895,149 

1908  41,390,557 

1907  58,217,214 

1906  51,751,080 

1905  44,270,680 

1904  31,546,106 

The  character  of  the  traffic  is  shown  by  the 
following  main  items: 

Coal,  tons 18,625,558  14,937,836 

Flour,  bbls 10,203,462  8,652,431 

Wheat,  bu 204,446,661  173,934,451 

Manfd.  and  pig  iron,  tons 431,777  698,247 

Salt,  bbls 735,376  648,616 

Copper,  tons 106,994  126,854 

Iron  ore,  tons 48,091,821  46,310,284 

The  constantly  growing  tonnage  of  American 
vessels  engaged  in  commerce  on  the  Great  Lakes, 
amounted  in  1913  to  2,939,786  gross  tons. 


other  great  american  canals         1 25 

Canadian  Canals 

There  are  ten  Canadian  canals  having  a  total 
tonnage  in  19 13  of  52,053,913.  Of  this  amount 
nearly  82  per  cent  represented  the  traffic  of 
the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal,  6  per  cent  that  of 
the  Welland  Canal,  and  8  per  cent  that  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  Canal.  Nearly  97  per  cent  of 
the  total  traffic  was  therefore  in  these  three 
canals. 

The  capital  cost  of  the  Canadian  Canals  up 
to  March  30,  1913,  was  $105,656,037.  The  St. 
Lawrence  River,  with  the  system  of  canals  above 
Montreal,  and  the  lakes  Ontario,  Erie,  St.  Clair, 
Huron  and  Superior,  with  their  connecting  canals 
make  a  water  communication  from  the  straits 
of  Belle  Isle,  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
to  Port  Arthur,  a  distance  of  2,217  statute  miles, 
the  difference  in  level,  about  600  feet,  being 
overcome  by  48  locks. 

The  Dominion  government  is  now  construct- 
ing a  new  Welland  Canal,  connecting  lakes  Erie 
and  Ontario,  to  cost  $50,000,000,  and  this  will 
have  a  depth  of  25  feet  in  the  stretches  and 
of  30  feet  in  the  lock  sills.     It  is  being  con- 


126       ARTIFICIAL   WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

structed  to  enable  the  large  lake  vessels  from 
Lake  Erie  to  reach  Lake  Ontario  points;  and  the 
project  is  mooted  of  so  canalizing  the  St.  Law- 
rence that  these  vessels  could  proceed  directly  to 
Montreal  and  Quebec. 

The  Canadian  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal  was 
begun  in  1888  and  completed  in  1895.  I^^ 
length  is  7,472  feet,  and  there  is  one  lock  of  900 
feet  by  60  feet,  with  a  rise  of  18  feet.  The 
canal  has  been  constructed  through  St.  Mary's 
Island,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Rapids  of  St. 
Mary's  River,  and  in  connection  with  that  river 
gives  communication  on  Canadian  territory  be- 
tween lakes  Huron  and  Superior. 

The  gross  traffic  of  the  Canadian  canals  dur- 
ing the  ten  years  ending  December  31,  19 13, 
increased  530  per  cent,  as  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing table  of  combined  tonnage: 


I9I3 

52,053,913 

I9I2 

47,587,245 

I9II 

38,030,353 

I9I0 

42,990,608 

1909 

33,720,748 

1908 

17,502,820 

1907 

20,543,639 

1906 

10,523,185 

I90S 

9,371,744 

1904 

8,256,236 

OTHER  GREAT  AMERICAN  CANALS     1 27 

The  following  table  shows  the  commodities  car- 
ried through  these  canals  in  1913: 

Tons  Per  cent  of  the  whole 

Agricultural  products 8,522,327  16.40 

Animal  products i9j30i  -04 

Manufactured  products 1,881,699  3.61 

Forest  products 1,678,925  3 .  22 

Mining  products 39,951,661  76.73 

Total 52,053,913  100.00 

Of  this  total  40,923,038  tons  were  of  United 
States  freight,  and  only  11,130,875  of  Canadian 
freight;  78.7  per  cent  of  the  tonnage  therefore 
originated  in  the  United  States,  most  of  this 
passing  through  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  Canal. 

The  annual  report  of  the  Canadian  Minister 
of  Railways  and  Canals  for  1913  says  that  the 
combined  water  and  rail  rate  from  Port  Arthur — 
Fort  William  to  Buffalo — New  York  was  8.jg64 
per  bushel  of  wheat  against  6.34i(/  per  bushel 
over  the  Port  Arthur — Ft.  WilHam  to  Montreal 
route.  Notwithstanding  this  difference  of  2.4^^4 
in  favor  of  Montreal,  ten  times  as  much  Cana- 
dian wheat  went  out  by  way  of  Buffalo — New 
York  in  November,  as  by  Montreal,  which  is 
attributed  to  the  greater  availability  of  ocean 
tonnage  and  lower  ocean  freight  and  insurance 


128       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

rates  at  New  York.  Of  the  141,726,899  bushels 
of  Canadian  wheat  from  the  northwest  in  1913, 
70,938,099  bushels  came  to  Buffalo.  Nearly  all 
of  this  reached  New  York  by  rail  or  went  to 
other  ports,  as  the  total  receipts  of  wheat  and 
flour  (of  all  kinds)  at  New  York  by  canal  in 
1913  were  only  4,371,700. 

Canadian  competition  is  rendered  more  effect- 
ive, because  the  Canadian  Pacific  gathers  the 
grain,  delivers  it  to  lake  and  canal,  and  Canadian 
Pacific  steamers  take  it  at  Montreal  and  Quebec 
and  deliver  the  same  abroad. 

All  concede  the  advantage  of  through  rail 
lines  in  moving  freight.  The  present  New  York 
Central  fine  from  Albany  and  Troy  to  Buffalo 
consisted,  at  one  time,  of  twelve  separate  cor- 
porations. Our  laws  recognize  the  right  of  con- 
tinuous lines  of  railroad  to  consohdate,  while 
forbidding  parallel  or  competing  lines  to  consoli- 
date. It  is  just  as  much  for  the  interest  of  com- 
merce that  roads,  terminating  at  the  seaboard, 
be  continued  by  steamship  connections.  The 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  with  its  line  of  steam- 
ships in  both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  connecting 
with  its  respective  termini,  and  reaching  Europe 


OTHER  GREAT  AMERICAN  CANALS     1 29 

and  the  Orient,  enjoys  superior  advantages  in 
the  general  competition  for  traffic,  an  advantage 
that  enures  of  course  to  the  benefit  of  the  Cana- 
dian people.  Contrast  this  policy  with  the  ab- 
surd law  passed  by  our  government,  forbidding 
any  railway-owned  vessel  to  pass  through  the 
Panama  Canal. 


THE  WATERWAYS  QUESTION  AND  CON- 
SERVATION OF  OUR  RESOURCES 

The  rehabilitation  of  both  the  artificial  and 
the  natural  waterways  in  the  United  States  has 
been  brought  prominently  forward  for  national 
consideration  by  reason  of  the  inability  of  the 
land  routes  to  give  adequate  service  at  periods 
of  special  pressure.  In  the  Fall  of  1906  both  our 
cotton  and  our  grain  crops  were  several  weeks 
late  in  reaching  market  for  lack  of  transportation 
facilities.  The  delay  was  caused  not  so  much 
by  want  of  rolling  stock,  as  by  insufficient  road- 
beds and  terminals.  As  population  increased, 
factories,  warehouses,  docks,  and  all  the  struc- 
tures designed  to  house  and  expedite  commerce, 
were  builded  about  the  railways  and  their  depots, 
until  now  they  are  wedged  in  as  by  a  vise.  They 
periodically  lack  trackage  and  terminals  sufficient 
to  enable  them  to  do  the  business  which  offers. 
The  space  they  need  to  enable  them  to  double, 

treble,  or  quadruple  track  their  roads  and  en- 

130 


THE  WATERWAYS   QUESTION  I3I 

large  their  terminals,  can  only  be  obtained  at 
almost  prohibitive  prices,  and  in  many  cases  is 
unattainable.  In  1914,  with  all  commerce  with 
Europe  temporarily  stopped  by  the  war  that 
comprehended  all  the  principal  European  nations, 
the  terminals  of  the  railways  and  terminal  ware- 
houses were  speedily  congested.  As  population 
becomes  still  more  dense  and  our  civilization 
more  complex,  our  production  and  commerce 
expanding,  these  essential  conditions  of  land 
transport  will  become  more  difficult;  the  water 
routes  will  unavoidably  be  resorted  to  for  the 
solution  of  the  problems  thus  presented. 

History  shows  that  enterprise,  in  its  various 
forms,  moves  in  waves,  with  maximum  and 
minimum  growth  and  periods  of  stagnation  or 
comparative  inactivity.  In  the  development 
of  a  new  country,  under  the  impulse  to  antici- 
pate the  future,  to  reahze  presently  the  greatest 
possible  profit,  it  was  but  natural  that  the  rapid 
transportation  of  the  railway  would  monopolize 
the  public  interest,  and  canal  transportation  be 
voted  too  slow.  Small  wonder  that  canal  con- 
struction should  be  neglected,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances,  and   even   existing   canals   be  per- 


132       ARTIEICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

mitted  to  fall  into  disuse  and  be  abandoned. 
With  denser  population  and  overtaxed  trans- 
portation facilities,  the  tide  has  turned;  the  pub- 
lic, confronted  by  conditions,  not  theories,  realize 
that  rail  transportation  must  be  supplemented 
and  complemented  by  inland  water  routes. 
Other  nations  have  far  surpassed  us  in  these 
respects,  and  we  are  bound  to  follow  in  the  wake 
of  this  world-wide  influence.  There  are  powerful 
factors  at  work  in  favor  of  the  canalization  of 
our  rivers  and  lakes.  A  national  movement  for 
the  conservation  of  our  natural  resources  has 
been  inaugurated  by  Congress.  The  President 
convened  the  Governors  of  all  the  States  to  meet 
other  distinguished  men,  to  consider  the  same 
question.  The  scope  of  this  policy  can  best  be 
stated  in  the  words  of  Senator  Newlands :  * 

"A  comprehensive  plan  for  the  development  of  our 
waterways  of  necessity  takes  into  consideration  all  of 
the  related  questions  of  forest  preservation  and  restora- 
tion, of  the  irrigation  of  arid  lands,  of  the  reclamation 
of  swamp  lands,  of  bank  protection,  of  clarification  of 
streams  and  other  kindred  subjects,  as  well  as  canal 
construction.  It  does  not  mean  simply  getting  a  dredg- 
ing machine  for  the  purpose  of  removing  sandbars  and 

*  North  American  Review. 


THE  WATERWAYS   QUESTION  1 33 

digging  a  channel.  It  involves  the  prevention  of  floods, 
when  the  rivers  rush  down  in  torrential  streams,  de- 
stroying property,  and  then,  having  wasted  the  water 
in  the  ocean,  are  attenuated  until  boats  cannot  float 
upon  them.  It  involves  the  preservation  of  forests, 
because  forests  are  the  great  conservators  of  moisture 
and  aid  in  the  gradual  distribution  to  the  rivers.  It 
involves  the  question  of  irrigation  of  arid  lands  at  the 
head  waters  of  our  inland  rivers — the  creation  of  great 
reservoirs,  where  the  flood  waters  can  be  impounded  and 
led  over  the  plains  for  purposes  of  irrigation,  to  be  gradu- 
ally returned  to  the  rivers  w^hen  most  required  by  them. 
Where  it  cannot  be  advantageous  to  irrigation,  the  water 
can  be  kept  impounded — as  is  now  done  in  the  upper 
Mississippi  and  in  some  foreign  countries — to  be  let  out 
at  a  time  of  low  water  in  such  a  manner  as  to  maintain 
navigation  throughout  the  summer. 

Forestry  and  irrigation  are  both  essential  to  the  pre- 
vention of  floods  and  soil  waste  and  to  the  maintenance 
of  a  stable  channel  for  navigation,  besides  creating  vast 
money  values  and  great  happiness  and  comfort  in  the 
development  of  immense  forests  and  broad  plains  irri- 
gated to  almost  unlimited  productiveness.  The  arti- 
ficializing  of  a  river  means  that  it  shall  be  kept  at  a 
standard  depth,  to  accommodate  vessels  of  standard 
draught,  just  as  there  is  a  standard  gauge  for  rail- 
roads. .  .  . 

It  also  involves  the  reclamation  of  swamp  lands,  which 
means  the  addition  of  large  and  immensely  fertile  areas 
to  the  productive  resources  of  the  country.  The  rec- 
lamation of  swamp  lands  as  such  is  not  one  of  the  powers 
of  government  granted  hy  the  constitution,  hut  the  control  of 
the  river  for  purposes  of  navigation  is,  and  for  this  purpose 


134       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 

the  redemption  of  vast  swamps^  along  the  lower  reaches  of 
the  rivers,  is  as  much  a  function  of  the  government  as  the 
irrigation  of  arid  and  semi-arid  wastes  at  the  source  of 
the  rivers.  The  channels  fill  up  because  where  there  are 
broad  stretches  of  lowland,  over  which  the  river  spreads, 
in  high  water,  the  river  channel  is  lost  in  a  network  of 
bayous  and  swamps.  When  confined  in  comparatively 
narrow  channels,  by  means  of  levees,  the  current  is  re- 
strained and  quickened  and  becomes  an  effective  power 
in  scouring  instead  of  clogging  the  bottom,  and  in  pre- 
serving the  channel;  so  that  we  have  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  question  of  navigation,  the  redemption 
of  swamp  lands  and  bank  protection." 


The  government,  through  its  power  to  regulate 
interstate  commerce,  will  make  canalization  in- 
cidentally cover  irrigation,  forest-preservation, 
drainage,  clarification,  bank-preservation.  With 
an  open  Treasury  little  difiiculty  will  be  en- 
countered from  strict  constructionists  of  the 
Constitution;  the  reserved  rights  of  the  States 
will  hardly  assert  themselves  to  prevent  expendi- 
ture of  money  which  must  enure  largely  to  their 
local  benefit.  An  abstract  proposition,  infringing 
State  sovereignty,  would  be  resisted,  but  a  con- 
crete project,  flavored  with  Treasury  notes,  will 
pass  unchallenged. 

Mark  the  evolution  of  constitutional  construe- 


THE   WATERWAYS    QUESTION  I35 

tion;  mark  also  the  return  of  the  canal  to  popular 
favor.  Deep-water  navigation  from  St.  Louis 
to  the  Gulf  commands  the  approval  of  railway 
managers,  as  well  as  publicists,  and  is  knocking 
at  the  Treasury  door  with  inviting  countenance 
from  within. 

The  Panama  Canal  has  just  been  completed 
at  a  cost  surpassing  any  other  public  work,  and 
largely  for  altruistic  motives,  since  the  whole 
world  is  given  its  use  upon  precisely  the  same 
terms  as  are  enjoyed  by  the  United  States.  Such 
powerful  examples  must  exercise  a  contagious 
local  influence  throughout  the  country. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  INTERNAL 
NAVIGATION 

Under  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  there  should 
be  a  Department,  charged  with  the  duty  of 
studying  our  harbors  and  rivers,  determining 
what  ones  are  worthy  of  government  aid,  ascer- 
taining the  nature  and  extent  of  desired  improve- 
ment, and  specifically  recommending  what  work 
should  be  done  in  order  that  same  may  be  done 
systematically,  economically  and  efficiently.  The 
importance  of  this  work  is  well  expressed  by  the 
annual  cost  to  the  taxpayers  of  the  country. 

Appropriations  for  Rivers  and  Harbors  are  as 
follows: 


1907 

$17,254,050 

1908 

43,310,813 

1909 

18,092,945 

I9I0 

29,190,264 

I9II 

49,380,541 

I9I2 

30,883,419 

I9I3 

40,559,620 

I9I4 

51,118,889 

Total  eight  years $279,790,541 

From  1802  to  1890 214,039,886 

From  1891  to  1906  ....  301,447,546 

Total  since  1802 $795,277,973 

136 


DEPARTMENT  OF  INTERNAL  NAVIGATION      137 

No  better  use  can  be  made  of  public  funds, 
than  their  wise  expenditure  in  the  interest  of 
transportation;  it  is,  however,  common  knowl- 
edge that  ambitious  Congressmen  secure  appro- 
priations, to  be  expended  in  their  districts,  for 
the  ostensible  purpose  of  improving  inland  navi- 
gation, upon  most  inconsequential  streams,  where 
purely  local  and  selfish  interests  are  served  and 
the  alleged  public  interest  is  used  merely  as  a 
leverage  to  secure  the  funds.  Even  in  the  case 
of  important  streams,  government  funds  are 
often  unwisely  expended.  To  illustrate  this,  I 
quote  from  a  minority  report  upon  the  River 
and  Harbor  Appropriation  Bill,  made  by  Senator 
Burton,  of  Ohio,  June  25,  19 14: 


138       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE   WORLD 


River 

Tonnage 
last  year 

Value  of 
tonnage 

Appropria- 
tions to 
date 

A  ppropria- 
tion  in 
IQ14  bill 

Cost  of 
commerce 
per  ton 

"Arkansas 

71,516  1 

$1,170,990 

$3,108,008.44 

$164,700 

$4-04^ 

Petaluma  Creek, 

Cal 

231,725 

12,719,747 

144,898.00 

7,500 

.06 

Red  River,below 

Fulton,  Ark. 

44,967  2 

354,715 

2,768,377.00 

100,000 

4.68 

Cohansey  River, 

N.  J 

186,960 

3,759,924 

101,300.00 

Nothing 

.02 

Missouri   River, 

Kansas     City 

to  mouth .... 

185,1103 

3,149,870 

11,627,935.47 

2,000,000 

13-31 

Bayou      Teche, 

La 

613,367 

6,269,404 

441,500.00 

130,000 

.24 

^  The  average  haul  was  34  miles.  Of  this  tonnage  56,208 
consisted  of  sawlogs. 

2  Of  this  tonnage  42,640  tons  consisted  of  sawlogs  carried 
an  average  distance  of  131  miles. 

^  Of  this  tonnage  155,420  tons  consisted  of  sand  and  gravel 
barged  a  distance  of  i  mile. 

4  Derived  by  taking  4  per  cent  of  total  appropriations  to 
date,  plus  appropriations  in  19 14,  and  dividing  by  the  tonnage. 


It  is  perfectly  manifest  that  the  further  improvement, 
at  least  on  any  large  scale,  of  certain  large  streams  in 
which  there  is  open-channel  navigation,  is  futile,  al- 
though in  previous  years,  and  especially  before  the  more 
recent  development  of  railways,  these  waterways  were 
utilized  to  a  very  considerable  extent. 

There  should  be  a  careful  re-examination  of  each  of 
these  waterways  and  a  policy  adopted  which  squares 
with  present  conditions.  The  following  are  illustrations: 
On  the  Red  River  below  Fulton,  covering  a  distance  of 


DEPARTMENT   OF   INTERNAL  NAVIGATION      1 39 

475.4  mileS;  there  was  in  the  year  1912  a  total  tonnage 
of  44,967  tons.  Of  this  amount  42,640  tons  were  saw- 
logs,  of  which  the  average  haul  was  131  miles,  and  lum- 
ber 1,100  tons.  Of  the  balance  of  the  freight,  including 
lumber,  amounting  to  2,327  tons,  part  was  carried  45 
and  part  80  miles.  The  total  amount  appropriated  to 
date  for  this  stream  is  $2,768,377.  There  was  no  ap- 
propriation in  the  pending  bill  as  it  came  from  the 
House,  but  by  a  proposed  Senate  amendment  $100,000 
has  been  inserted.  The  expense  per  ton  to  the  United 
States  government  for  carrying  this  freight,  including 
the  lumber,  can  be  approximately  obtained  if  an  allow- 
ance of  4  per  cent  is  made  on  the  amount  appropriated 
to  date  and  the  prospective  appropriation  in  the  pending 
bill  is  added.  This  interest  on  the  investment  would 
amount  to  $110,735.08,  and  adding  the  $100,000  appro- 
priated, would  make  a  total  of  $210,735.08.  The  cost 
per  ton  would  be  $4.68,  or  if  the  sawlogs  are  excluded, 
the  cost  per  ton  would  be  $90.56,  and  the  cost  per  ton- 
mile  $1.53.  As  against  this  figure  per  ton-mile,  the 
average  charge  per  ton-mile  on  freight  carried  on  the 
railroads  of  the  United  States  in  the  year  191 1  was 
$0.00757.  An  improvement  under  such  circumstances 
does  not  fall  short  of  absurdity. 

On  the  Arkansas  River  the  total  tonnage  was  71,516 
tons,  of  which  56,208  tons  were  sawlogs.  The  balance, 
15,308  tons,  notwithstanding  the  length  of  the  so-called 
navigable  portion  of  the  river,  (463  miles)  was  carried 
an  average  of  only  34  miles.  The  appropriations  to  date 
on  this  stream  have  been  $3,108,008.44,  and  the  appro- 
priation in  the  pending  bill  is  $164,700.  Using  the  same 
computations  as  before,  of  4  per  cent  on  the  amount 
appropriated  for  this  river,  and  the  $164,700  appropriated 


I40       ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE  WORLD 

in  this  year,  which  includes  work  at  Pine  Bluff  and  the 
completion  and  operation  of  a  dredging  plant,  the  cost 
for  carrying  each  ton  would  be  $4.04.  If  the  sawlogs 
are  excluded,  the  cost  per  ton  would  be  $18.81.  And  yet 
it  is  proposed  to  expend  on  this  stream  $349,000  for 
permanent  plant  and  $118,000  per  year  for  its  mainte- 
nance. 

On  the  Missouri  River  from  the  mouth  to  Kansas 
City  the  total  tonnage  in  191 2  was  185,110  tons,  of 
which  sand  and  gravel  hauled  i  mile  made  up  155,420 
tons,  leaving  a  balance  of  29,690  tons  of  other  freight. 
The  only  long-distance  traffic,  which  was  carried  339 
miles,  according  to  the  reports  and  designated  as  "mis- 
cellaneous freight"  was  4,173  tons,  to  which  must  be 
added  manufactured  iron  and  steel  products,  carried 
158  miles,  1,404  tons.  It  should  be  said  that  the  reports 
not  yet  officially  made  are  to  the  effect  that  this  traffic 
has  increased  in  the  year  1913,  and  also  shows  a  some- 
what greater  increase,  amounting  to  about  3,000  tons 
per  month,  between  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  Kansas 
City  for  the  year  19 14;  but  taking  the  latest  official 
statistics  as  a  basis,  it  appears  that  there  has  been  appro- 
priated for  this  stream  between  the  mouth  and  Kansas 
City  under  old  projects,  $7,227,935,  and  under  the 
existing  project,  which  calls  eventually  for  $20,000,000, 
$4,400,000,  making  the  total  appropriation  $11,627,935. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  maintenance  of  navigation  on 
this  river,  after  the  expenditure  of  $20,000,000,  in  addi- 
tion to  amounts  appropriated  prior  to  19 10,  will  cost 
$500,000  per  year.  CapitaHzing  the  expenditure  already 
made  on  this  river  at  4  per  cent  plus  the  appropriation 
proposed,  the  cost  per  ton  after  excluding  sand  and 
gravel  carried  i  mile,  would  be  $88.08." 


DEPARTMENT   OF   INTERNAL  NAVIGATION      I4I 

With  reference  to  the  canaHzed  Kentucky 
River,  the  report  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers  for 
1909,  volume  I,  page  642,  says: 

"The  principal  commerce  of  the  river  is  timber,  much 
of  it  loose  logs,  and  the  improvement  is  rather  detri- 
mental to  this  than  otherwise.  The  logs  are  damaged 
in  passing  the  dams,  and  in  their  turn  cause  much  dam- 
age to  the  works  and  are  a  prolific  source  of  snags  and 
other  discouragement  to  any  steamboat  traffic  that 
might  develop." 

The  above  quotations  will  serve  to  illustrate 
the  unsystematic,  unscientific  and  wasteful 
method  which  now  obtains  in  attempting  to 
improve  inland  navigation  by  the  United  States 
government.  The  harbors  that  dot  the  very 
long  line  of  our  seacoast,  are  the  open  doors  that 
welcome  commerce  from  abroad,  and  through 
which  our  own  products  seek  other  countries; 
they  should  be  improved  and  kept  in  good  state 
of  efficiency.  The  improvement  of  the  estuaries 
and  rivers  extending  from  these  harbors  inland, 
in  fact  all  interstate  rivers  and  lakes,  is  a  proper 
charge  upon  the  United  States  Treasury. 

Senator  Burton,  speaking  with  special  reference 
to  the  River  and  Harbor  Bill,  summarizes  the 
reforms  that  should  be  made,  as  follows: 


142      ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF   THE  WORLD 

''  I.  Provision  for  the  completion  of  an  improvement  in 
the  bill  in  which  it  is  adopted. 

2.  A  careful  review  of  pending  projects  in  the  light 
of  present  conditions  and  the  omission  of  all  improve- 
ments which  are  no  longer  profitable. 

3.  A  more  careful  consideration  before  the  adoption 
of  projects.  There  should  be  especial  care  to  avoid 
lock  and  dam  construction  save  in  streams  which  are 
capable  of  being  made  important  arteries  of  commerce. 

4.  A  division  of  expense  when  exceptional  advantages 
accrue  to  private  property  or  specific  localities,  or  when 
the  protection  of  private  property  is  the  main  object  and 
navigation  subordinate. 

5.  The  exclusion  from  the  bill  of  proposed  improve- 
ments which  do  not  have  to  do  with  navigation. 

6.  A  general  policy  of  improving  the  main  stream 
before  attention  is  given  to  branch  streams,  and  the 
adjustment  of  depths  and  dimensions  with  a  view  to  a 
uniform  and  comprehensive  plan  for  the  development 
of  such  waterways  as  can  profitably  be  utilized. 

7.  Such  adjustment  of  the  relations  between  railways 
and  waterways  as  will  secure  the  utilization  of  routes 
partly  by  land  and  partly  by  water  when  cooperation 
and  utilization  of  both  routes  can  be  made  profitable  as 
a  means  of  transportation. 

8.  Before  expenditures  are  incurred,  make  certain  that 
suflScient  terminal  facilities  for  traffic  will  be  afforded; 
also  that  no  monopoly  or  undue  advantage  by  any  in- 
dividual or  corporation  as  a  result  of  any  improvement 
made." 

If  this  whole  subject  were  placed  under  a 
Department  of  Internal  Navigation  or  a  Com- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  INTERNAL  NAVIGATION      1 43 

mission,  perhaps,  would  not  the  public  interest 
be  conserved  and  the  public  purse  be  better 
protected?  Would  not  order  succeed  confusion, 
efficiency  succeed  waste,  and  expenditure  find  ex- 
pression in  good  practical  results? 


The  successful  development  and  solution  of 
the  transportation  problem  in  our  country,  as  in 
other  countries,  depends  upon  the  coordination 
and  cooperation  of  our  railways  and  our  water 
routes,  be  they  canals,  canalized  lakes  and  rivers, 
or  natural  bodies  of  water,  such  as  the  Great 
Lakes  and  the  high  seas.  These  two  systems  oj 
transportation  must  supplement  and  complement 
each  other. 


APPENDIX 

Table  i  gives  year  opened,  length,  prism,  locks,  cost 
and  termini  of  all  principal  canals  of  the  United  States. 

Table  2  presents  data  as  to  the  canals  of  New  York 
now  in  use,  canalized  rivers  and  lakes,  and  other  im- 
portant facts. 

Table  3  presents  the  number,  mileage,  traffic  and 
ownership  of  canals  and  canalized  rivers  in  the  United 
States,  in  1906. 

Table  4  shows  the  number  and  length  of  navigable 
rivers  in  the  United  States,  an  analysis  of  their  traffic 
and  the  appropriations  made  in  support  of  same,  by 
Congress. 

Table  5  gives  the  revenues  and  cost  of  New  York 
canals  from  inception  until  tolls  Vv'ere  abolished  in  1882. 

Table  6  is  a  statistical  exhibit  of  the  competition  be- 
tween railways  and  canals,  from  1853  to  191 2. 

Table  7  compares  the  Buffalo  receipts  and  shipments 
of  grain  and  flour,  by  canal  and  rail. 

Table  8  compares  the  receipts  of  grain  and  flour  at 
New  York,  1909-1913,  by  canal,  coastwise  and  rail. 

Table  9  is  a  statement  of  traffic  on  all  canals,  1904- 

1913- 

Table  10  is  a  statement  of  the  value  of  the  traffic  on 
all  the  canals,  1904- 19 13. 

Table  11  gives  the  kinds  and  classification  of  all  freight 
on  New  York  canals,  1903-1912. 

Table  12  shows  the  annual  average  freight  rates, 
Chicago  to  Liverpool,  all  rail  and  all  water,  1893-1913. 

145 


146  APPENDIX 

Table  13.  New  York,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
Michigan  are  the  States  that  have  benefited,  in  greatest 
degree,  from  the  Erie  Canal,  and  in  order  to  show  its 
favorable  influence  these  States  are  compared  with  all 
other  States  in  the  Union  in  this  Table,  in  respect  to 
wealth  and  population. 

Table  14  gives  various  statistics  as  to  the  City  of 
New  York,  which  is  unquestionably  the  principal  bene- 
ficiary under  the  New  York  State  canal  system. 

Table  15  compares  New  York  with  other  great  ports 
of  the  world. 

Table  16  gives  the  miles  saved  by  using  the  Panama 
route,  as  compared  with  other  routes. 


APPENDIX 


147 


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APPENDIX 


II.  Data  as  to  the  Canals  of  New  York  Now  in  Use,  Canalized 
Rivers  and  Lakes,  and  Other  Important  Facts 


CANALS  OF   NEW  YORK   STATE 


Erie 

Oswego 

Cayuga  and  Seneca 

Champlain 

Glens  Falls  Feeder 

Pond  above  Troy  Dam 

Black  River 

Oneida  River  Improvement .... 

Oneida  Lake 

Baldwinsville  &  Seneca  Towpath 


Length 

Depth 

Locks 

Miles 

Feet 

No. 

3SI-7 

7.0 

72 

38.0 

7.0 

18 

23.0 

7.0 

II 

66.0 

5-0 

20 

12.0 

S-o 

12 

30 

I 

42.0 

4.0 

lOI 

20.0 

4-5 

2 

70.0 

7.0 

7 

5-7 

4.0 

I 

Maxi- 
mum 
burden 
of  boats 

240 
240 
240 
120 
85 

76 
76 

220 
76 


The  Erie  Canal  was  authorized  April  15,  181 7  and 
work  begun  the  same  year.  It  was  completed  Octo- 
ber 26,  1825  at  a  cost  of  $7,143,789.  It  was  enlarged 
in  1836-1862  at  a  cost  of  $44,465,414.  Canals  in  New 
York  are  owned  and  maintained  by  the  State  free  of 
tolls. 

The  total  debt  of  the  State  of  New  York  on  Septem- 
ber 30,  1913  was  $135,478,192  of  which  $90,000,660  was 
on  account  of  the  State  canals.  The  canal  debt  was 
66  per  cent  of  the  total  debt.  From  181 7  to  1882  (when 
tolls  were  abolished)  the  gross  revenues  of  the  Erie 
Canal  were  however  $121,461,871  which  gave  a  profit 
to  the  State  over  cost  of  construction  and  operation  of 
$42,599,718. 

During  its  Canal  history,  the  State  has  opened  1050 


APPENDIX 


149 


miles  of  navigable  waterways  including  100  miles  of  in- 
terior lake  navigation.  In  addition  there  are  500  miles 
of  lake  and  river  navigation  and  the  Hudson  River  is 
navigable  for  150  miles.  Of  the  canals  350  miles  have 
been  abandoned  and  50  miles  more  have  fallen  into  dis- 
use. TraflSc  on  the  Erie  Canal  has  been  steadily  declin- 
ing, but  the  great  work  of  canal  enlargement  now  in  prog- 
ress, known  as  the  Barge  Canal  improvement,  will,  it  is 
expected,  result  in  a  notable  expansion  in  transportation. 

III.  Number,  IMile.^ge,  Teaffic,  and  Ownership  of  Canals  and 
Canalized  Rivers  in  the  United  States,  in  1906 


No. 

Mileage 

Cost 

Freight  car- 
ried, tons 

Government         owned 
canals      

12 

29 
23 
64 

78.19 

2,046.01 
1,520.40 

$26,524,588 

213,797,297 
42,886,978 

96,729,333 

State  and   Corporation 

owned  canals 

Canalized  rivers 

6,606,814 
19,098,258 

Total 

3,644.60 

283,208,863 

122,434,405 

Notes:  (a)  Up  to  1906,  there  had  been  2,841  miles  of  canals  and 
canalized  rivers  abandoned  in  the  United  States.    These  had  cost 

$73,168,795. 

{b)  Over  75  per  cent  of  the  freight  carried  was  that  passing  through 
the  Sault  Ste  Marie  canals  and  the  Canal  at  the  flats  adjacent  to 
Lake  St.  Clair.  Only  4,320,138  tons  were  carried  on  other  canals 
than  the  ship  canals. 

(c)  No  tolls  are  charged  on  Federal  or  on  New  York  canals. 

{d)  These  statistics  were  gathered  by  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  in 
1906.    The  next  canal  census  will  be  taken  in  1916. 

(e)  The  freight  traffic  on  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  in  1906 
amounted    to    1,631,374,219    tons.      In    1912    the    amount    was 

1,844,977,673- 

(/)  Canal  Projects.  The  two  most  extensive  schemes  now  proposed 
are  (i)  the  Lakes-to-the-Gulf  waterway  which  includes  the  Mississippi 


150  APPENDIX 

improvement,  the  canalization  of  the  Illinois  River,  and  the  Chicago 
Drainage  Canal; 

(2)  A  series  of  canals  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  that  would  give 
interior  waterway  communication  from  Massachusetts  to  the  Caro- 
linas.  utilizing  the  newly  constructed  Cape  Cod  Canal,  and  enlarging 
the  Delaware  and  Raritan  Canal,  and  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake 
cut. 

(^^  The  largest  river  canalization  project  now  in  progress  is  that 
in  the  Ohio  River  from  Pittsburg  to  Cairo,  making  a  low  water  depth 
of  nine  feet.    Construction  of  54  dams  and  locks  is  necessary. 

IV.  The  Number  -wd  Length  of  N.wig-abtf  Rr-ers  in  the  United 
State?.  .\n  Analysis  of  Their  Tr.\ffic  and  the  Appropriations 
M-ADE  IN  Support  of  Same,  by  Congress 

There  are  295  rivers  in  the  United  States  hav- 
ing a  naxigable  length  of  26.410  niiles. 

The  following  is  an  analysis  of  the  traffic  on 
the  more  important  of  these  streams  (those  hav- 
ing a  traffic  of  more  than  i,ocx),ooo  tons  a  year) 
made  by  Senator  Burton  of  Ohio  in  a  report  to 
the  United  States  Senate  June  2^^  1914.  The 
figures  in  most  instances  are  for  the  year  191 2, 
the  amounts  appropriated  by  Congress  include 
all  to  date  for  the  specified  waterways. 


APPENDIX 


I — Rivers  and  creeks  in  whole  or  in  part  utilized 
harbors. 


151 

as 


River 


I  Amount 

Tonnage  \   appro- 
priated 


Navi- 
gable 
length 


Hudson,  between  Xe'A   York  City  and 


72,000,000  $225,000 


New  Jersey 

East,   between    New   York    City   and 

Brookl>Ti 45,331,216 

Harlem,  in  and  near  New  York  City.  .115,376,742 

Pro\*ideiice,  to  Providence,  R.  I 

Newtown  Creek,  between  Brooklv-n  and 
Queens  County 

Mystic,  below  Island  End  River  in  Bos- 
ton   

Rouge,  at  the  southerly  limits  of  Detroit 


4,585^364 
4,9^1,843 

3,671,242 
1,321,098 


Snohomish,  Wash 1,096,731 


6,233,341 
i,943,cxxj 
2,766,489 

510,000 

283,005 
106,690 
280,000 


45 

3-2 


2 — Rivers  connecting  larc^e  cities  with  the  sea: 


River 


Amount 
appro- 
priated 


Xdvi-  j 

gable      Depth 

length 


Delaware  to  Philadelphia  . . 

Patapsco  to  Baltimore 

Mississippi  to  New  Orleans . 

Savannah  to  Savannah  .... 

Passaic  to  Newark  and  Pas- 
saic   

St.  Johns  to  Jacksonville .  . . 

Cape  Fear  to  Wilmington, 
N.  C 

Potomac  to  Alexandria  and 
Washington 

Pawtucket  to  Pawtucket, 
R.I 

James  to  Richmond 


10,029,875 
4,279,947 
3,120,676 


2,266,291 
2,204,794 

1,072,205 

817,508 

622,166 

507,023 


Miles 

9,189,000 

lOI 

8,616,280 

20 

0,357,288 

114 

0,456,747 

17 

1,950,350 

16 

6,060,089 

27-5 

5,8Si,i68 

30 

3,534,500 

113 

506,584 

4-5 

3,200,000 

103.8 

Feet 
30.1 
35 
30 
23-5 

6-16 
24 

26 

24 

16-25 
175 


152  APPENDIX 

3 — ^Rivers  (tidal)  but  of  less  capacity: 


River 


Amount 

Navi- 

Tonnage 

appro- 

gable 

Depth 

priated 

length 

Miles 

Feet 

1,177,157 

$746,528 

12 

10 

924,323 

100,000 

20.2 

5-12 

617,981 

873,170 

50 

10 

565,480 

551,600 

15 

14 

549,476 

506,300 

27 

II 

211,060 

61,973 

16 

4 

391,346 

118,000 

4 

5 

366,228 

130,516 

23 

9 

391,346 

65,000 

9 

5 

319,083 

226,500 

3 

3 

281,700 

897,945 

44 

10 

123,750 

721,250 

5 

4 

86,651 

405,366 

17-5 

7 

86,009 

327,450 

13 

6 

Raritan  to  New  Brunswick 

N.J 

Hackensack  to  Milford 

Connecticut  to  Hartford  .  .  . 

Thames  to  Norwich 

Penobscot  to  Bangor 

Napa,  Cal 

Maurice,  N.  J 

Wicomico,  Md 

Cooper,  N.  J 

Bronx,  New  York  City  .  .  .  , 

Kennebec  to  Augusta 

Brazos  to  Velasco 

Merrimac  to  Haverhill .... 
Housatonic  to  Derby 


APPENDIX  153 

4 — Rivers  used  for  traffic  between  inland  points: 


River 


Tonnage 


Amount  ap- 
propriated 


Navi- 
gable 
length 


Depth 


Monongahela 

Ohio 

Hudson  from  Waterford  to 
New  York  Harbor  .... 

Allegheny 

Delaware   from    Philadel- 
phia to  Trenton 

Kanawha 

Mississippi  ^  between — 
New  Orleans  and  Vicks- 

burg 

Vicksburg  and  Memphis 

Memphis  and  Cairo  . . . 

Missouri  River  and  St. 

Paul 


11,575,329 
8,618,369 

3,045,136 
2,632,789 

1,547,787 
1,319,154 


1,807,740 

1,394,789 
1,425,922 

1,830,294 


110,229,689 
29,229,225 

8,566,524 
2,284,459 

551,000 
4,295,863 


78,409,555 
18,607,622 


Miles 

87-5 
1,000 

156 
61 

30 
90 


885 


558 


Feet 
6-9 


(}) 


U-s 


^  Project,  9  feet. 

2  Project,  1 2  feet. 

3  The  ojQ&cial  statistics  for  the  Mississippi  River  below  Cairo  are 
given  in  this  form  dividing  the  river  into  three  sections.  Through 
traffic  passing  through  two  or  more  sections  is  included  in  each  and 
the  sum  of  the  traffic  through  all  sections  would  involve  a  consider- 
able duphcation. 

^  Project,  6  feet. 


RECAPITULATION  OF  APPROPRIATIONS  AND  TRAFFIC 

Appropriations  Traffic  (tons) 

Class  I $  12,347,525  148,304,236 

Class  2 69,752,006  51,187,820 

Class  3 5,731,598  6,091,590 

Class  4 152,173,937  35,197,309 

$240,005,066  240,780,955 


154    ARTIFICIAL  WATERWAYS   OF  THE  WORLD 


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APPEND 

IX 

155 

VI.  Statistical 

Exhibit  of  Competition  Between  New  York 

Central  and  Erie  Railways 

AND  Canals, 

FROM     1853    TO 

1912 

Five  year  Periods 

Two  Railways 

Canals 

Per  cent  by  Canals 

1853-57 

7-7 

19.9 

72.1 

1858-62 

12. s 

22.2 

64.0 

1863-67 

23.2 

22.6 

53-4 

1868-72 

42.3 

31.6 

42.7 

1873-77 

61.8 

26.1 

26.0 

1878-82 

95-5 

27.6 

18.8 

1883-87 

142.3 

26.2 

12.8 

1888-92 

201.6 

24.4 

8.7 

1893^7 

210.0 

19.0 

(>s 

1898-02 

289.1 

17. 1 

5-6 

Years 

1903 

68.6 

S.6 

SO 

1904 

65.3 

31 

45 

1905 

70.5 

3-2 

4-3 

1906 

78.6 

3S 

4.2 

1907 

84.1 

3-4 

3-9 

1908 

74.8 

30 

3-9 

1909 

72.8 

31 

4.0 

1910 

84.2 

30 

3-5 

1911 

83.0 

30 

3.5 

1912 

84.1 

2.6 

30 

156 


APPENDIX 


VII.  BuiTALO  Receipts  and  Shipments  of  Grain  and  Flour,  by 
Canal  and  Rail,  Compared 


Per  cent 
by  canal 


1868-72, 
1873-77 . 
1878-82 . 
1883-87. 
1888-92 , 
1893-97 , 
1898-02 , 
1903-07 , 
1908-12, 


Million 

Million 

Grain 

bushels 

Per  cent 

Flour 

bushels 

rec'd 

shipped 

by 
canal 

by  canal 

rec'd 

shipped 

by 
canal 

238 

185 

77-7 

6.6 

2-3 

30 

201 

66 

7 

6.2 

0.8 

366 

246 

67 

2 

S-2, 

0.4 

319 

206 

64 

5 

16. 1 

0.3 

515 

185 

35 

9 

33-8 

0.2 

707 

179 

25 

3 

52.7 

0.2 

747 

94 

12 

5 

53-0 

0.1 

636 

82 

12 

9 

47-7 

611 

66 

10 

9 

31-S 

... 

34.8 

12.9 

7.5 

1.8 
0.6 
0.4 
0.2 


Grain 


Receipts  bushels 

1913 192,445,440 

1912 159,793,348 

1911 121,892,466 

1910 102,071,175 

1909 113,415,385 

1908 114,245,438 


Shipments  bushels  by  canal 
9,429,064 
6,405,158 
11,966,158 
17,584,651 
16,407,268 
14,314,159 


Note:  During  these  six  years  47,066,644  barrels  of  flour  were  re- 
ceived at  Buffalo,  but  none  was  shipped  by  canal. 

VIII.  Receipts  of  Grain  and  Flour  at  New  York,  1909-1913, 
BY  Canal,  Coastwise  and  Rail,  Compared 


Canal 

Per 

cent 

Coast- 
wise 

4,371,700 

3-1 

3,904,292 

3,530,600 

2.7 

4,268,675 

7,895,000 

6.6 

3,913,254 

11,000,700 

II-3 

441,588 

9,676,000 

10.2 

1,863,504 

Rail 


Total 


1913 
1912 
1911 
1910 
1909 


131,768,203 

122,371,905 

107,411,728 

86,635,278 

82,895,110 


140,044,195 

130,171,180 

119,219,982 

98,077,566 

94,434,614 


APPENDIX 


157 


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158 


APPENDIX 


XI.  Kinds  and  Classification  of  all  Freight  on  New  York 
Canals,  1903-1912 


1912 
1911 
1910 
1909 
1908 
1907 
1906 

1905 
1904 
1903, 


Forest 


584,964 
656,500 
654,094 
647,739 
565,443 
747,736 
854,610 
851,098 

738,793 
690,161 


Products 
of  agri- 
culture 


196,014 
355,301 
492,536 

447,217 
449,846 
606,159 
648,715 

436,979 
427,969 

595,047 


Manu- 
facture 


119,512 
137,463 
145,419 
163,871 
106,371 
96,916 
170,584 
132,438 
129,665 
130,406 


Mer- 
chandise 


152,982 
166,419 
215,446 

194,273 
166,061 
169,258 
202,285 
172,665 
200,472 
241,564 


Other 


1,552,644 
1,781,385 
1,565,917 
1,663,436 
1,764,156 

1,787,845 
1,664,713 
1,633,716 
1,641,648 
1,956,207 


Total 


2,606,116 
3,097,068 
3,073,412 
3,116,536 
3,051,877 
3,407,914 
3,540,907 
3,226,896 
3,138,547 
3,615,385 


APPENDIX 


159 


XII.  Annual  Average  Freight  Rates,  Chicago  to  Liverpool, 
ALL  Rail  and  all  Water,  1893-1913 

Per  Bushel  of  Wheat 


Calendar 
Year 


Chicago  to  New  York 


By  lake  and 
canal 


By  lake  ajid 
rail 


By  all  rail 


N.  Y.  to 
Liver- 
pool 


1893. 
1894. 
1895. 
1896. 
1897. 
1898. 
1899. 
1900. 
1901. 
1902. 
1903. 
1904. 
1905. 
1906. 
1907. 
1908. 
1909. 
1910, 
1911. 
1912. 


Cents 


Cents 

8.44 
7.00 

6.95 
7-32 
7-37 
4.96 
6.63 
5 -OS 
5-57 
5.78 
6.17 
5.02 
6.44 
6.48 
6-93 
6.33 
6.88 
6, 

5. 
6. 

7. 


Cents 

14.7 

12.88 

12.17 

12.0 

12.32 

11-55 
II. 13 

*  9-98 

*  9-92 

*  10.60 

*ii-33 

*  II .11 

*  10.20 

*  10.50 

*  11.30 

*  11.70 

*  11.70 

*  9.60 

*  969 

*  9.60 

*  9.60 


Pence 

2# 


3tV 
3tV 

3i 


4 

I* 

if 

3iJ 


*  For  domestic  consumption;  local  rate  for  export  only  9.08  cents 
in  1900;  9.02  cents  in  1901,  and  8.75  cents  in  1902;  and,  when  con- 
signed and  delivered  to  steamer,  8.89  cents  in  1903,  8.47  cents  in  1904, 
7.99  cents  in  1905,  8.10  cents  in  1906,  9.70  cents  in  1907,  10.50  cents 
in  1908  and  1909,  and  7.80  cents  in  1910,  1911,  1912,  and  1913. 


i6o 


APPENDIX 


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APPENDIX  l6l 


XIV.  Various  Statistics  as  to  the  City  of  New  York,  which 
is  unquestionably  the  principal  beneficiary  under  the 
New  York  State  Canal  System 


Over  47  per  cent  of  the  total  foreign  commerce  of  the 
United  States  in  1913  passed  through  the  Port  of  New 
York,  her  share  of  the  merchandise  imports  being  57.8 
per  cent,  and  of  the  exports  37.2  per  cent. 

Of  the  335,000,000  bushels  of  grain  (including  flour) 
received  at  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
New  Orleans  and  San  Francisco  in  1913,  New  York's 
share  was  39.8  per  cent,  being  133,531,482  bushels. 

New  York's  exports  of  flour  in  1913  were  4,549,838 
barrels,  its  largest  competitor  being  Montreal  with 
1,760,653  barrels.  In  1907  New  York  exported  3,002,455 
barrels  and  Montreal  861,936  barrels. 

New  York's  exports  of  wheat  in  1913  were  49,019,674 
bushels  as  compared  with  27,111,717  in  1907.  Mon- 
treal's exports  were  33,706,089  bushels  in  19 13  against 
20,949,496  in  1907. 

Of  the  41,015  vessels  with  a  total  tonnage  of  50,639,173 
engaged  in  the  foreign  trade  that  entered  the  ports  of 
the  United  States  in  1913,  there  were  4223  which  entered 
the  Port  of  New  York,  their  tonnage  being  14,464,161 
or  28.4  per  cent  of  the  total  for  the  whole  country. 
These  figures  do  not  include  the  tonnage  engaged  in  the 
domestic  trade. 

The  bank  clearings  of  New  York  in  1913  amounted  to 
$94,634,281,984  over  55  per  cent  of  the  total  clearings 
of  the  United  States.  The  five  largest  cities  in  the 
country  next  to  New  York  have  combined  clearings  con- 
siderably less   than   one-half   those   of  this   city   whose 


l62  APPENDIX 

business  as  measured  by  bank  transactions  is  greater 
than  that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  United  States. 

Over  14  per  cent  of  all  the  loans  and  discounts  of  the 
National  banks  of  the  United  States  in  19 13  were  made 
by  the  National  banks  of  New  York. 

The  banking  resources  of  the  seven  principal  cities 
of  the  country  in  1913  were  $9,033,023,786  of  which 
$4,460,360,980  were  represented  by  the  banks  in  New 
York.  The  banking  resources  of  this  city  are  17  per 
cent  of  those  of  the  United  States.  It  ranks  as  one  of  the 
four  great  international  money  markets. 

The  census  of  19 10  showed  that  nearly  10  per  cent  of 
the  manufacturing  establishments  of  the  United  States 
and  nearly  10  per  cent  of  the  value  of  their  yearly 
products  are  located  and  produced  in  New  York  which 
contains  more  industries  than  Chicago,  Philadelphia, 
St,  Louis  and  Cleveland  combined. 

New  York  City  contains  about  5  per  cent  of  the  total 
population  of  the  United  States,  and  the  last  ten  year 
percentage  of  increase  was  greater  than  that  of  the  four 
next  largest  cities  of  the  country.  The  Metropolitan 
district  of  New  York  (the  city  proper  with  near  suburbs) 
is  increasing  at  the  rate  of  over  40  per  cent  in  ten  years 
while  the  Metropolitan  district  of  London  is  increasing 
only  10  per  cent,  so  that  in  a  few  years  at  most  New 
York  will  be  the  largest  city  in  the  world. 

New  York's  total  ocean  passenger  traffic  in  19 13 
amounted  to  1,843,770. 

The  real  and  personal  estate  of  the  State  of  New  York 
in  1913  had  an  assessed  value  of  $11,128,498,055;  and 
that  of  the  City  of  New  York  $8,390,155,472. 


APPENDIX  163 

XV.  Compares  New  York  with  other  Great  Ports  of  the  World 


International 
Commerce 

Year 

Vessel 
Tonnage 
Entered 

Year 

Popula- 
tion 

Year 

New  York  .... 

London 

Hamburg 

Liverpool 

Antwerp ...... 

Rotterdam .... 

Marseilles 

Bremen 

Havre 

Buenos  Aires.  . 
Hull 

$1,966,256,617 
1,866,930,782 

1,960,779,855 
1,816,983,279 
1,214,725,495 

731,430,800 
632,493,751 
619,245,100 
479,536,241 
391,005,790 





307,512,228 

1913 
1912 
1912 
1912 
1912 

1912 
1912 
1912 
1912 
1912 

1912 

14,464,161 

10,800,716 

13,567,913 

7,253,016 

11,483,214 

11,552,119 

8,051,321 

1,688,891 

3,582,065 

3,964,583 
3,135,006 
3,921,812 
2,059,964 

1913 
1912 
1912 
1912 
1912 
1912 
1911 
1912 
1911 

1912 
1910 
1911 
1912 

6,474,568  * 
7,252,963  * 
953,079 
746,421 
291,949 
370,390 
517,498 
214,861 
130,196 

1,326,994 

277,991 

476,806 

42,938 

221,993 

1910 
1911 
1912 
1911 
1905 
1905 
1906 
1 90s 
1901 
1911 
1911 
1901 

1909 

Copenhagen . . . 

Cherbourg 

Trieste 

*  Metropolitan  Districts. 


164 


APPENDIX 


XVI.  Gives  the  Miles  Saved  by  Using  the  Panama  Route,  as 
Compared  with  Other  Routes 


New  York 
to 

Via 

Panama, 

etc. 

miles 

Via 
Suez, 

etc. 
miles 

Via 
Magel- 
lan, etc. 

miles 

Via 
Good 
Hope 
miles 

Saved 
through 
Panama 

miles 

San  Francisco 

Callao    

5,262 

3,363 

9,798 

11,691 

11,548 

10,904 

10,392 

8,851 

13,5^6 
11,673 
11,589 

13,135 
9,613 

1^^,344 

12,650 
13,162 
14,441 

7,873 
6,250 
3,768 

Yokohama 

Hong  Kong 

Manila 

41 

Adelaide 

1,746 

Melbourne 

Wellington 

2,770 
*  5,590 

Note  (a)  Vessels  from  New  York  to  Australia  now  round  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  the  distance  being  the  same  as  by  the  Suez  Canal. 

(&)  To  Yokohama  the  route  by  Panama  is  to  San  Francisco  and  the 
Great  Circle;  and  by  Suez  to  Columbo,  Singapore,  Hong  Kong  and 
Shanghai. 

To  Hong  Kong  the  route  by  Panama  is  to  San  Francisco,  Yokohama 
and  Shanghai;  and  by  Suez  to  Columbo  and  Singapore. 

To  Manila  the  route  by  Panama  is  to  San  Francisco  and  Yokohama; 
and  by  Suez  to  Columbo  and  Singapore. 

*  2,493  miles  saved  compared  with  Magellan  route. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Some  of  the  authorities  consulted  in  preparing  the 
statistics  and  other  data  in  regard  to  waterways: 

Official  reports  of  the  various  governments  whose  canal 
systems  are  discussed. 

Statistical  Abstract  of  the  United  States,  1913. 

Annuaire  Statistique  of  France,  191 2. 

Consular  and  Trade  Reports  of  Department  of  Com- 
merce, 1912,  1913. 


APPENDIX  165 

Annual  Report  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  1913. 

Panama  Canal  Traffic  and  Tolls, — Report  of  Special 
Commissioner,  191 2. 

Official  Handbook  of  The  Panama  Canal,  19 13. 

Transportation  by  water, — special  report  of  the  Bu- 
reau of  the  Census,  1908. 

Report  of  the  Barge  Canal  Terminal  Commission, 
1911. 

History  of  New  York  Canals, — Report  of  State  En- 
gineer, 1905. 

New  York  State  Barge  Canal,  Report  of  the  State 
Engineer,  19 13. 

Report  of  the  Chicago  Harbor  Commission,  1909. 

Report  of  the  New  Jersey  Harbor  Commission,  19 14. 

Report  of  the  New  York  Superintendent  of  Public 
Works  on  Canals,  191 2. 

Report  of  the  British  Royal  Commission  on  Canals  and 
Waterways,  1909. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Suez  Canal  company,   1905- 

1913- 

Report  of  Canadian  Canal  Statistics  by  the  Minister 
of  Railways  and  Canals,  19 13. 

Report  of  the  Manchester  Ship  Canal  Company,  1913. 

Report  No.  599,  63rd  Congress,  2nd  Session,  by  Sena- 
tor Theodore  E.  Burton  from  Senate  Committee  on 
Commerce  on  River  and  Harbor  Appropriations,  June  25, 
1914. 

Address  by  Count  J.  H.  von  Bernstorff,  German 
Ambassador  before  National  Rivers  and  Harbors  Con- 
gress, 1909. 

Cape  Cod  Canal,  address  by  August  Belmont  before 
New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  June,  19 14. 


1 66  APPENDIX 

Waterway  Policy  and  its  Results  in  Europe,  by  Emory 
R.  Johnson,  read  to  National  Rivers  and  Harbors  Con- 
gress, 1909. 

Ocean  and  Inland  Water  Transportation,  by  Emory 
R.  Johnson,  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  191 1. 

American  Inland  Waterways,  by  Herbert  Quick,  G.  P. 
Putnam's  Sons,  1909. 


INDEX 


Albany  Regency,  49,  50,  58,  71 
Ambrose  Channel  (N.  Y.  Har- 
bor), 121 
Annual   appropriations,    136- 

139 
Appendix,  145 
Austria-Hungary,  canals,  24 


B 


Babylon,  Great  Canal  of,  2 
Barge  Canal,  97 

reduced  cost  of  transporta- 
tion, 107 
Belgium,  canals,  8,  9 
British  Royal  Commission,  8, 

17,  19 
Burton,    Senator,    report    of, 

137,  138,  139 


Canada,  canals,  31,  92 
capacity,  92,  125-129 
competition  of,  92,  93,  128, 

129 
description,  traffic,  charac- 


ter of  freight  transporta- 
tion,     enlargements      in 
process  and  planned,  125- 
129 
freight  rates,  91 

Canal  Commission,  First,  44 

Canal  mileage  in  Europe  and 
United  States,  32 

Canals  and  conservation  of  our 
resources,  130-135 

Canals    and    railways,    their 
proper  relation,  102-108 

Cape  Cod  Canal,  1 21-123 

Chaldea,  canals,  2 

Champlain  Canal,  New  York, 
39 

Charlemagne,  3 

Cheapening  transportation,  32, 
32>,  56,  57,  64,  82,  B>2, 

China,  canals,  2,  27 

Civil  War,  United  States,  ef- 
fect of,  67 

Clinton,   DeWitt,   41,   44-49, 
55 

Clinton,  George,  36,  39 

Colden,  Cadwallader,  34 

Coles,  Christopher,  38 

Colombia,  Republic  of,   iia- 
114 


167 


i68 


INDEX 


Competition      against      New 

York  City,  88 
Competition  of  railways,  32, 

33 
See    also    New    York    State 

Canals 
Conservation,  130-135 
Corinth  Canal,  25,  26 


D 


DeLesseps,  F.,  27,  no 

Denmark,  canals,  22 

Department  of  Internal  Navi- 
gation, 136 

DeWitt,  Simeon,  43 

Differentials  against  New 
York  City,  90 

Dutch  as  canal  builders,  5,  6 


Egypt,  canals,  2,  3 
England,  canals,  18-21 
Erie  Canal,  New  York,  bene- 
ficial influence  of,  57,  61, 
64,  81-84,  87 
breaking  ground  for,  47 
capacity  of,  46,  56,  57,  58 
cost  of,  54,  56,  62,  63 
early  projects,  34,  39,  42 
earnings  of,  68,  76 
enlargement  completed,  62, 

^3 
estimates  of  cost,  44,  46 
freight  rates,  56,  60,  64 


freight  transported,  volume 

and  value,  cost  per  ton, 

6S,66 
opening  of,  49-51 
period  of  inception,  t,2> 
political  patronage,  effect  of, 

48,    53,    59,    64,    65,   66, 

71 
profitable  to  State,  61,  68 
regulator  of  freight  rates,  82, 

83 
sale  prohibited,  61 
sale     prohibited,    repealed, 

73 
tolls  on,  56-60 
vessel  tonnage,  56,  60 
Europe,  canals  of,  and  canal- 
ized rivers,  4>  5,  32 


Federal  aid  for  canals.  United 

States,  42,  43,  134 
France,  canals,  10-13 
Freight     rates,     early,     New 

York,  42 
general,  57,60-64, 65,  82,  ^2>^ 

91,96 
French   Panama    Canal    Co., 

no,  112 
Fulton,  Robert,  42,  44 


Georgian  Bay  Canal  project, 

93,  94 
Germany,  canals,  13-18 


INDEX 


169 


Government  ownership,  New 

York,  84-86 
Great  Britain,  canals,  18-21 
Great  Lakes,  commerce  of,  91 
utilization  for  canals,  30 

H 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  36 
Holland,  canals,  4,  6,  7,  8 


India,  canals,  26 
Ireland,  canals,  20 
Italy,  canals,  24,  25 


Jefferson,  Thomas,  42 

K 

Kiel  Ship  Canal,  13 

L 

Languedoc  canal,  10 
Locks,  defined,  5 
invention  of,  5 

M 

Madison,  James,  44 
Manchester  Ship  Canal,  2,  20, 
21 


Mingling     of     waters,     Erie 

Canal,  50,  51 
Morris,  Gouverneur,  35?  44 


N 


Newlands,  Senator  F.  G.  on 

waterways,  132 
New  York  City,  commerce  of, 

89 
competition     against,      88, 

89 
port  charges,  90 
railway  discrimination,  90 
New  York  State,  debt  of,  63, 

76 
growth  of,  84 
inefficient  canal  policy,  70, 

75,  79,  84,  8s 
railway  subsidies,  59 
valuation  of  property,  84 
New  York  State  Canals,  34- 

109 
abandoned  works,  73 
abolition  of  tolls,  75 
Barge  Canal,  97-101 
boards  and  commissions,  44, 

46,  47,  79 
canal  debt,  68,  69,  76 
"canal  ring,"  48,  53,  59.64- 

66 
competition    against    New 

York  City,  89-96 
competition  of  railways,  67, 

69,  74,  82,  8s,  102,  103, 

104 


lyo 


INDEX 


constitutional       provisions, 

6i,  67,  72,  73,  75 
cost  of,  56,  68,  69,  76,  77 
decline  of,  74,  102,  103 
early  plans  and  surveys,  34- 

43 
earnings,  54,  56,  60,  73,  74, 

76 
efforts  to  improve,  78,  80 
enlargements,  57,  58,  62,  64, 

65,  66,  97 

slow  progress  of,  58 
equipment     of,     compared 

with  railways,  69 
extravagance  and  waste,  58, 

71,  79,  80 
financial  statements  of,  61, 

63,  68,  76 
freight  rates,  40,  42,  56,  64, 

65,  73,  74,  81,  8s 

estimated  reduction  of,  64 
imperative  need  of  improve- 
ment, 78,  95 
influence  on  growth  of  State, 

77,88 
neglect  of,  70,  75,  84,  86,  91 
operating  cost,  60,  64,  72 
opposition  to,  41,  52,  59,  70, 

75,  79 
patronage,  46,  48,  58 
political  influences,  48,  58, 

70,  71 
revenue,  6 1 .    (See  Earnings) 
sale  of,  prohibited,  61,  73 
superintendent     of     public 

works,  73 


tolls,  60,  64,  6s,  66,  73,  74 

abolished,  75 
traffic,  60,  63,  64,  72,  73,  77, 

78,81 
vessel  tonnage,  57,  62,  81,  97 
volume  and  value  of  traffic, 

157-159 


Panama  Canal,  2,  109-120 
amount    paid    Republic   of 

Colombia,  116 
amount   paid    Republic   of 

Panama,  116 
cost,  construction  and  com- 
pletion, 109-117 
estimated  tonnage,  117 
inception  and  history,  109 
mihtary  advantage,  119 
prospective  commercial  ad- 
vantage, 117,  118 
statistical     description     of, 
115-117 
Peru,  canals,  9,  13,  30 
Public  and  private  ownership, 
85,  86,  104,  105 


Railway  competition,  59,  60, 
67,  73,  74,  102,  103,  104 
See    also   New    York    State 
Canals 

Railways    and    canals,    their 
proper  relation,  102-108 


INDEX 


171 


Railways,  inadequate  service 
of,  95,  130 

Religious  scruples  against 
canals,  26,  109 

River  and  harbor  appropria- 
tions,   proposed    reform, 

136-143 
Roman  canals,  3 
Russia,  canals,  22,  23 


St.  Lawrence  route,  91,  92 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  (St.  Mary's 

Falls),  canals,  31,  92 
cost,   capacity,   completion, 

tonnage,  123,  124 
volume  and  value  of  freight 

transported,  124 
Scotland,  canals,  20 
Smith,  Adam,  i 
South  America,  30 
Spain,  canals,  26 
State     sovereignty     question, 

United  States,  45 
Statistical  tables,  145 


Suez  Canal,  2,  27,  28,  29,  30 
Sweden,  canals,  24 


Tammany,    New    York,    op- 
posed to  canals,  41 
Tilden,  Samuel  J.,  71,  72 


U 


United  States,  canals  of,  30-33 
length  and  cost,  31 
imperative  need  of,  34,  35, 
147,  149,  151,  152,  153 


W 

Washington,  George,  35,  37 
Waterways  of  the  world,  32 
Waterways  question,  130 
Welland  Canal,  31 
World's  canals,  1-33 
mileage  and  cost,  32 


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